Gerard Mercator, Rumold Mercator
Gerard Mercator the Younger, Michael Mercator

LH 0296

World and 4 continents

The famous maps of the world and continents by the Mercator family from one of the earliest editions by Jodocus Hondius.

Amsterdam 1606.

Outstanding examples of the art of map-making summing up the cartographic knowledge in Europe during the Renaissance period.

€ 25.800,-

Map of the World:

"Orbis Terrae Compendiosa Descriptio Quam ex Magna Universali Gerardi Mercatoris ... Rumoldus Mercator fieri curabat A°. M. D. LXXXVII".

World in two hemishperes, surrounded by a strapwork border. With an armillary sphere and an elaborate compass rose between the two hemispheres. Compiled by Rumold Mercator after Gerhard Mercator's world map of 1569. First published in an edition of Strabo's 'Geographia', Geneva 1587, and in an atlas by Mercator, Duisburg 1595.

From an early edition of a Mercator-Hondius atlas, verso with Latin text.

Originally coloured copper engraving by Rumold Mercator, published by Jodocus Hondius, Amsterdam 1606, 28,7 x 52 cm.

Very nice original colours. Paper with a printer's crease, diagonally at the upper right side, otherwise very good condition. Note the differnet paper size of the maps of the continents.

Ref.: Shirley 157; Koeman Me15

Europe:

"Europa, ad magnae Europae Gerardi Mercatoris P. imitationem, Rumoldi Mercatoris F. cum edita ..."

Map of Europe with a nice and decorative title cartouche. From an early edition of a Mercator-Hondius atlas, verso with Latin text.

Originally coloured copper engraving by Rumold Mercator, published by Jodocus Hondius, Amsterdam 1606, 38,5 x 47,2 cm.

Very nice original colours. Paper a little bit peeled off at centrefold, otherwise very good to perfect condition.

Asia:

"Asia ex magna orbis terrae descriptione Gerardi Mercatoris desumpta, studio et industria G.M. Iunioris."

Map of Asia with a nice and decorative title cartouche. From an early edition of a Mercator-Hondius atlas, verso with Latin text.

Originally coloured copper engraving by Gerard Mercator the Younger, published by Jodocus Hondius, Amsterdam 1606, 38 x 46,8 cm.

Very nice original colours and perfect condition.

Africa:

"Africa. Ex magna orbis terrae descriptione Gerardi Mercatoris desumpta. Studio & industria G.M. Inunioris."

Map of Africa with a nice and decorative title cartouche. From an early edition of a Mercator-Hondius atlas, verso with Latin text.

Originally coloured copper engraving by Gerard Mercator the Younger, published by Jodocus Hondius, Amsterdam 1606, 38,3 x 47,3 cm.

Paper a little bit peeled off at centrefold and with a small printer's crease at lower right margin, otherwise perfect condition.

America:

"America sive India Nova, ad magnae Gerardi Mercatoris avi Universalis imitationem in compendium redacta. Per Michaelem Mercatorem Duysburgensem."

Map of the western hemisphere with North and South America, with 'Terra Australis' and 'Nova Guinea'. With three round inset maps (Haiti, Cuba, and the Gulf of Mexico) and a title cartouche at the corners. Maps are surrounded by ornamental leaves and tendrils.

Originally coloured copper engraving by Michael Mercator, published by Jodocus Hondius, Amsterdam 1606, 37,6 x 46,6 cm.

Very nice original colours and perfect condition.

Ref.: Burden 87

Gerard Mercator (1512-1594)

Cartographer, mathematician and globemaker. Pupil of Gemma Frisius in Louvian. From 1537 he worked as a cartographer for his own. 1552 he moved to Duisburg. There he made his most famous maps: 1554 the map of Europe on 15 sheets, 1564 the map of the British Isles on 8 sheets, and 1569 the map of the World on 18 sheets, the first one using Mercator's projection.

He planned to edit an extensive cosmography starting at the beginning of the world, with a description of the sky, the countries and the sea, with a genealogy, a political history, and a detailed chronology. Last one he already published in 1569 and the first cartographic part of his cosmography - a Ptolemy's Geographia with 28 maps - appeared in 1578. From 1585 he published an atlas with modern maps in five parts. 1585 he issued the first three parts with 51 maps, 1589 the fourth part with 22 maps, and 1595  the fifth part was published posthumously with 29 maps by his son Rumold Mercator.

All 102 maps are signed in the plates 'Per Gerardum Mercatorem'. The fifth part was completed with a map of the world and maps of the 4 continents which were made by Mercator's  son Rumold Mercator (c1545-1599, World and Europe) and by his grandsons Gerard Mercator the Younger (c1565-1656, Asia and Africa) and Michael Mercator (c1567-c1600, America) which both were the sons of Arnold Mercator (1537-1587), who engraved together with his eldest son Johannes Mercator (c1562-c1595) most of the maps of Ptolemy's Geographia from 1578.

Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612) aquired the plates for Mercator's atlases in 1604, which he extended and re-published from 1606 - with a text by his brother-in-law Petrus Montanus.

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Kunstantiquariat Monika Schmidt • Munich • Germany • www.maps-n-views.com