Willem Janzoon Blaeu

The Blaeu family produced the most popular and significant atlases, globes and maps of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Founded in 1596 and specializing in globe and instrument making, the business expanded to produce sea charts and maps. Willem Blaeu was appointed chart maker to the East India Company in 1633.

His firm's most important work was the monumental Atlas Maior or Grand Atlas. When it was published in five languages in 1662, it was the most expensive book ever produced and the finest of the category. Its meticulous attention to detail — in its cartography, typography and engraving — made it an immediate success.