Willem Janszoon Blaeu

Willem J. Blaeu was born in Uitgeest or Alkmaar in the Netherlands in 1571. He studied with the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, learning to make globes and instruments. On his return to the Netherlands, he began producing globes and atlases. His maps and atlases are an important record of the great age of exploration. He died in Amsterdam on 21 October 21 1638.