Copper engraving, 180x243 mm (plate), 490x290 mm (sheet); slight period color at the edges. Excellent specimen. Blaeu, an astronomer and student of Tycho Brahe, founded a workshop for the manufacture of globes in 1599; almost immediately, he also began publishing maps, culminating in 1630 with the creation of his first atlas, “Atlantis Appendix,” and, five years later, the first two-volume edition of the “Atlas Novus.” After his death in 1638, his son Johan oversaw the publication in 1662 of the famous “Atlas Maior” in 11 volumes. In 1672, a fire destroyed the workshop, marking the end of the business.