Joan Blaeu

Cartographer and builder of terrestrial globes and scientific instruments, he collaborated with his brother in his father's business, continuing his work until 1672, when a fire destroyed his laboratory. He was the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company from 1638 until his death.

In 1635 they published the Atlas Novus (full title: Theatrum orbis terrarum, sive, Atlas novus) in two volumes. Joan and her brother Cornelius took over the studio after their father died in 1638. At that point Joan became the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Around 1649 Joan Blaeu published a collection of Dutch city maps, calling it Tooneel der Steeden (Theater of the Cities) and in 1651 he was elected to the city council of Amsterdam. In 1654 Joan published the first atlas of Scotland by Timothy Pont. In 1662 he republished an atlas in eleven volumes and one for the oceans, known as Atlas Maior. A cosmology was also planned as a follow-up project, but a fire completely burned down the studio in 1672. Joan Blaue died the following year.

Newsletter