Second Edition (First with Ptolemy's Text) of the Finest-Engraved 16th-Century Edition of the Geographia.
The Largest Lifetime Edition of Mercator's Ptolemy.
Beautifully-bound example of Gerard Mercator's 1584 edition of his Ptolemaic atlas, one of only three editions published during his lifetime.
Mercator was referred to by Abraham Ortelius as "the Ptolemy of our time" for his global approach to geography. While Ortelius's atlas was limited in scope to modern world geography, from the outset, Mercator desired the creation of an opus to encompass all geographies - past, present, terrestrial, maritime, and celestial. Mercator's project was famously left unfinished at his 1594 death, and it would be nearly a century before the project was completed by the Jansson and Blaeu publishing houses. Part of the core of his project, which was completed during his lifetime, was his edition of Ptolemy's Geographia.
Mercator's Geographia was first published by Gottfried von Kempen in 1576 without the text (but with the indices) and reissued by him in two 1584 editions, one with and one without the text. A number of later 17th- and even 18th-century from Mercator's copper-plates editions appeared, a testament to the work's staying power.
The book opens with Mercator's fantastic double-page Ptolemaic world map, which presents the iconic image in a classically Dutch style with strapwork geometry surrounding the winds. This is followed by the traditional suite of ten European maps, five African maps (with the Egyptian map being a single-page production), and twelve Asian maps.
In all, a fine copy in publisher's calf of this key 16th-century Geographia.
Collation
[Title]; [Dedication]; 1-108; [30]; [Blank]; [Title]; [6]; [27 double-page engraved maps with one single-page engraved map]; [30].
Gerard Mercator is one of the most famous cartographers of all time. Mercator was born in Flanders and educated at the Catholic University in Leuven. After his graduation in 1532, Mercator worked with Gemma Frisius, a prominent mathematician, and Gaspar a Myrica, a goldsmith and engraver. Together, these men produced globes and scientific instruments, allowing Mercator to hone his skills.
With his wife, Barbara, Mercator had six children: Arnold, Emerentia, Dorothes, Bartholomeus, Rumold, and Catharina. In 1552, Mercator moved to Duisburg from Leuven, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1564, he was appointed the official cosmographer to the court of Duke Wilhelm of Cleve.
Mercator’s most important contribution was the creation and popularization of a projection which now bears his name. On Mercator projection maps, all parallels and meridians are drawn at right angles to each other, with the distance between the parallels extending towards the poles. This allowed for accurate latitude and longitude calculation and also allowed navigational routes to be drawn using straight lines, a huge advantage for sailors as this allowed them to plot courses without constant recourse to adjusting compass readings.
Mercator’s other enduring contribution to cartography is the term “atlas”, which was first used to describe his collection of maps gathered in one volume. The Mercator atlas was published in 1595, a year after Mercator’s death, thanks to the work of his sons, particularly Rumold, and his grandsons.