The Atlas Blaeu–Van der Hem: A Seventeenth-Century Masterpiece of Maps

The Atlas Blaeu–Van der Hem: A Seventeenth-Century Masterpiece of Maps

The Atlas Blaeu–Van der Hem is among the most extraordinary cartographic treasures of the seventeenth century. Born from Joan Blaeu’s monumental Atlas Maior (1662), Amsterdam lawyer Laurens van der Hem expanded and hand-embellished it into a visual encyclopedia—now held by the Austrian National Library—containing more than 2,400 maps, charts, views, and drawings.

Below is a curated gallery from the atlas, with brief context. Image selections and original notes courtesy of BibliOdyssey.

Naval battle off Goa, India
Goa (India) — Hand-painted seascape of a Dutch–Portuguese naval engagement off Goa, reflecting VOC power struggles in the Indian Ocean. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Colombo, Sri Lanka, bird’s-eye view
Colombo (Sri Lanka) — Bird’s-eye view of the fortified port city, a strategic node in the spice trade. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Blaeu map of Pechili / Peking (Beijing)
Pecheli sive Peking — Early Western map of the Beijing region produced for Martino Martini’s China atlas. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Imperii Sinarum Nova Descriptio (China, Korea, Japan)
Imperii Sinarum Nova Descriptio — General map of China, Korea (no longer as an island), and Japan; among the first to name Hokkaido (Ezo). Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Nagasaki and Dejima bird’s-eye view
Nagasaki & Dejima (Japan) — The fan-shaped artificial island that served as Japan’s sole window to the West during the isolation era. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Malacca view
Malacca (Malaysia) — Strategic entrepôt at the choke point of the Malacca Strait. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Fokien (Fujian) province map
Fokien (Fujian) Province — Coastal China opposite Taiwan; a key hub in East Asian maritime trade. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Formosa (Taiwan) general map
Eijlant Formosa Generael (Taiwan) — Early European depiction of Taiwan and the Pescadores. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Taioan / Fort Zeelandia view
Taioan (Tayouan) & Fort Zeelandia — Bird’s-eye view with a key to government buildings, markets, and neighborhoods. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Small fortified island view
Island Fort — A small fortified outpost with VOC shipping; one of many manuscript views added to the atlas. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Portrait of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter — Renowned Dutch admiral of the Anglo-Dutch wars, shown with fleets at sea. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Dutch outrigger vessel
Dutch outrigger — A striking hybrid vessel depicted with Dutch flags and crew. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Puerto Rico harbor plan and views
Puerto Rico — Harbor plan with panoramic insets; fortified approaches and soundings. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Novi Belgii (New England and Mid-Atlantic)
Novi Belgii — Decorative Dutch Golden Age map of New England/Mid-Atlantic with a New Amsterdam inset. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Mexico City plan and elevation
Mexico City — “Forma y Levantado de la Ciudad de México,” a plan/elevation view after the 1628 watercolor by Juan Gómez de Trasmonte. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Pascaart vande Parsiaense Kust (Persian Gulf)
Pascaart vande Parsiaense Kust — Chart of the north Persian Gulf with inset of Qeshm’s island fort. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Aethiopia Superior vel Interior (NE Africa)
Aethiopia Superior / Interior — Joan Blaeu’s richly embellished map of NE Africa, with rivers, fauna, and mythic cartography. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
St. Helena with Dutch fleet
St. Helena — View of the island with a Dutch fleet offshore, echoing its strategic Atlantic location. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Bay of Tangier plan
Bay of Tangier (Morocco) — Detailed plan of the bay, harbor defenses, and urban fabric. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Johannes Maurits portrait (Prince of Nassau-Siegen)
Johannes Mauritius — Portrait of John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen, governor of Dutch Brazil in the 1630s. Credit: BibliOdyssey.
Mauritius island view
Mauritius — Island view; note the dramatic hunting vignette in the lower scene. Credit: BibliOdyssey.

Image selections and captions adapted from: BibliOdyssey — “Atlas Blaeu–Van der Hem” (Feb 4, 2013). Additional rights may apply to originals (Austrian National Library and other repositories).

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