by Diana Doci

Cartographer Gerard Mercator. Title: Macedonia, Epirus and Achaia Publisher: Anno Henricus Hondius, Amsterdam, 1623.

Gerard Mercator (Kremer) was born in Rupelmonde, Flanders, and studied in Louvain. He drew his first map in 1537 and became a cartographer and globe maker. In 1552, he moved to Duisburg, Germany, where in 1569 he published his famous 18-sheet world map with his new projection, now called the Mercator projection. He then decided to publish a new edition of Ptolemy’s Geographia.

his was followed by his major work, a three-volume collection of maps to which the term atlas was applied for the first time. The first volume was published in 1585, followed by the second in 1589, and the third, after his death in 1595, by his son Rumold. A second edition of all three parts was published in 1602.

In 1604, Jodocus Hondius purchased the plates and published several editions together with his sons Jodocus II and Henricus until 1633. Further editions followed until 1666, edited by Janssonius, in partnership with Henricus. Some of the plates were also used by W.J. Blaeu in 1630.

Reference

Van der Krogt, P.: Koeman’s Atlanti Neerlandici, 7830:1.1