Dr. Joan Jansz(oon) Blaeu

Dr. Joan Jansz(oon) Blaeu

Dr. Joan Jansz(oon) Blaeu's Atlas Maior was to become his magnum opus. With a privileged international audience in mind, Blaeu succeeded in creating the largest, costliest, and most sumptuously decorated atlas ever endeavored. The atlas was comprised of twelve lavish folio volumes that contained 600 hand-colored maps and was further supplemented by 3000 pages of text. Due to their mammoth proportions, the volumes were often housed in specially designed furniture (see image below). Various editions were printed in Dutch, French, Latin, German, and Spanish.

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