Old color example of the rare English language edition of the Mercator-Hondius map of the Russian Empire and Scandinavia.
The present example of the map is a proof state. In the following year, the map would be finished, with 5 costumed figures and a coat of arms, plus text and other embellishments added to the cartouche. Also added, were significant additions of geographical information near the cartouches, ships and sea monsters in the oceans, plus additional shading to the longitude and latitudinal guide marks along the inner neat lines.
The English edition of the map is very rare, especially in full original color. This is only the second example of the English edition of the map which we have seen on the market in the past 20 years.
Henricus Hondius (1597-1651) was a Dutch engraver and mapmaker, a member of a prominent cartographic family. His father, Jodocus Hondius, was also an engraver and geographer. While working with his father, Henricus was instrumental in the expansion and republishing of Mercator’s atlas, first published in 1595 and republished by Hondius in 1606.
Upon his father’s death in 1612, Henricus and his brother, Jodocus the Younger, took over the business. He set up his own shop in 1621, where he continued to release new editions of the Mercator atlas. Later, he partnered with his brother-in-law, Jan Janssonius, in continuing to expand and publish Mercator’s atlas, which would become known as the Mercator-Hondius-Janssonius atlas. Born and based in Amsterdam, he died there in 1651.