PUBLICATIONS OF THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA No. 85 [Illustration: Willem Janszoon Blaeu. 1571-1638 (J. Falck _sculp._)] WILLEM JANSZOON BLAEU 1571-1638 A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND WORK WITH AN ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO HIS LARGE WORLD MAP OF 1605 FACSIMILE OF THE UNIQUE COPY BELONGING TO THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA EIGHTEEN SHEETS WITH KEY PLATE BY EDWARD LUTHER STEVENSON, PH.D. [Illustration: THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA] NEW YORK 1914 Copyright, 1914, by THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE WILLEM JANSZOON BLAEU 11 WORLD MAP OF 1605 51 BIBLIOGRAPHY 61 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BLAEU’S PRINCIPAL GEOGRAPHICAL PUBLICATIONS 65 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Willem Janszoon Blaeu. 1571-1638 (J. Falck, _sculp._) _Frontispiece_ Facing Page Island of Hveen, showing the location of Uranienburg. From Le Grand Atlas 12 Press invented by Blaeu. From Johnson, J. Typographia 16 Interior of Tycho Brahe’s Observatory at Uranienburg. From Le Grand Atlas 30 Terrestrial globe and celestial globe, 1616. Willem Janszoon Blaeu 44 World Map from Toonneel des Aerdrycx, by Willem Janszoon Blaeu 52 Printer’s mark of the Blaeu Press [tail-piece, page 59]. WILLEM JANSZOON BLAEU 1571-1638 WILLEM JANSZOON BLAEU AND HIS WORLD MAP OF 1605 Willem Janszoon Blaeu, one of Holland’s most distinguished map and globe makers of the early seventeenth century, was born at the village of Alkmaar in the year 1571; such is the record which finds general acceptance.[1]