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Description

Fine example of the true first state of Mercator's map of the World, first printed in Geneva in 1587.

This is earliest state of Mercator's map, with 3 lines of text below the words Lectori, S.P. Later editions include different text settings and, with first edition of Mercator's Atlas in 1595, the text would be removed. The map is readily distinguishable from the editions of 1595 and after, which include a crack in the copperplate, between the R's in the word "Terrae" in the title.

This is the only obtainable world map by Gerard Mercator, the greatest geographer of his era. Both his 1538 and 1569 world maps are unapproachable rarities.

The present work is a reduced version of the 1569 wall map of the world, on which the revolutionary Mercator Projection was introduced. Oddly, this folio version recast the map into a double-hemisphere format and did not employ the Mercator Projection. Gerhard Mercator died in 1594, the year before his first world atlas was published. It would be several decades before a world map on his Mercator's projection would appear in a commercial atlas. This fine piece of engraving, with elegant, strapwork ornamentation, of what was certainly the most important world map of the late 16th Century.

While later editions appear on the market with some frequency, true first state of the first edition is now very rare on the market, this being the first example we have ever offered.

Reference
Shirley 157.