must have had a copy at his disposal (or the earlier one published by Van Berckenrode). Around 1658 he showed it as a wall decoration in his painting Officer and Laughing Girl, which depicts a soldier in a large hat sitting with his back to viewer, talking with a smiling girl who holds a glass in her hand. Bright sunlight bathes the girl and the large map on the wall. Vermeer's gift for realism is evidenced by the fact that the wall map, mounted on linen and wooden rods, is identifiable as Blaeu's 1621 map of Holland and West Friesland. He captures faithfully its characteristic design, decoration, and geographic content. Legacy His maps formed the bulk of the Atlas Maior, which became a collector's item in Amsterdam. Works published by Willem Blaeu Aardglobe (1599) Hemelglobe (1603) Nieuw Graetboeck (1605) Nywe Paskaerte (1606) 't Licht der zeevaert (1608) Spieghel der Schrijfkonste (1609) "Nova et Accurata Totius Hollandiae Westfriesiaeq. Topographia, Descriptore Balthazaro Florentio a Berke[n]rode Batavo" Tafelen van de declinatie der Sonne (1623) Tafelen van de breedte van de opgang der Sonne Zeespiegel, inhoudende een korte onderwysinghe inde konst der zeevaert, en beschryvinghe der seen en kusten van de oostersche, noordsche, en westersche schipvaert (1624) Pascaarte van alle de zeecusten van Europa (1625) . Atlantis Appendix (1630) Appendix Theatri ... et Atlantis ... (1631) Atlas (1634) Novus Atlas (1635) Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1635) Toonneel des Aerdrycks (1635) Le Theatre du Monde (1635) Theatre du monde ou Nouvel Atlas (1638) See also Hessel Gerritsz History of cartography References Literature P. J. H. Baudet: Leven en werken van Willem Jansz. Blaeu, Utrecht 1871. Johannes Keuning and Marijke Donkersloot-de Vrij (Edited): Willem Jansz. Blaeu: a biography and history of his work as cartographer and publisher, Amsterdam 1973. External links Galileo Project facts on Willem Blaeu Selection of scanned maps by Willem Blaeu, Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The National Library of Israel. List in Library catalog. Willem Blaeu Het Licht der Zee-vaert, Amsterdam 1608, Universitätsbibliothek Marburg – book published by Willem "Making Sense of the Pre-Columbian", Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America, 1520–1820. – explains how Willem's maps perpetuated the European notion of America's Indians 1571 births 1638 deaths 16th-century Dutch cartographers People from Alkmaar People from Uitgeest 17th-century Dutch cartographers Dutch East India Company people Dutch celestial cartography in the Age of Discovery