Willem Blaeu

Willem Blaeu born at Alkmaar in 1571 and died on October 31st, 1638, at Amsterdam. His son, Joan Willem was born at Amsterdam 1596, and there was a second son, Cornelis. They died in 1673 and 1643 respectively. Between them the Blaeu's produced the finest maps of the 17th century.

Regarding the Blaeu Maps, the general quality of design, execution, paper and colouring were unsurpassed. The set of English county maps are spacious and dignified, and quite different in style from those of Speed. although they include the heraldry he used.

The earliest printed maps of the counties and provinces of Scotland were produced by this famous house from the original manuscripts of Timothy Pont, a Scottish divine who compiled them in the 16th century, and whose work was brought to the notice of the Blaeus by Robert Gordon of Straloch.

The Blaeu establishment, with a branch in Vienna, was of a larger size than any previous or subsequent establishment of similar type; it not only produced a seemingly illimitable supply of magnificent volunus of maps and plans of all types and sizes, covering all the known world, and culminating in the magnificent Great Atlas of twelve volumes, published in Latin, Dutch, German, French and Spanish, but also produced large scale maps, wall maps, sea charts, town plans, and globes.

Many of the maps and atlases were hand coloured by their own colourists, with an admirable artistry and skill, particularly in view of the large quantities involved in what was, after all, a purely commercial undertaking. The paper was of the best, the colours of the finest, and the binding strong, beautiful, and immensely practical.

Much must have been destroyed in the disastrous fire that occurred at the premises in 1672. Within twelve months the fortunes of this great organisation had waned, and with the death of Joan Willem in 1673 the copper-plates were sold by auction and acquired first by Frederick De Wit and subsequently by Gerard Valk and Peter Schenk, who published them from 1683.