Copper engraving, contemporary colour, 415 x 505 mm. Very good example. W. Blaeu, an astronomer and student of Tycho Brahe, founded a globe-making workshop in 1599; almost immediately he began publishing maps as well, producing the first atlas, the “Atlantis Appendix,” in 1630, and the first two-volume edition of the “Atlas Novus,” five years later. After his death in 1638, his son Johan edited the famous 11-volume “Atlas Maior,” published in 1662. A fire destroyed the workshop in 1672, marking the end of the business.