' includes maps of France, the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, the Balkans and Greece that were published separately between 1585 and 1594. After 

’s death in 1594, his son, Rumold, completed the ‘

’ by adding the introduction describing the creation of the world as well as the section containing his famous double-hemisphere world map, maps of the four continents, and maps of the British Isles, North Pole, Iceland, Scandinavia, Prussia, Russia, the Baltic countries, Transylvania, and Ukraine.

Binding: Late seventeenth or early eighteenth-century calf, gilt spine in seven compartments with raised bands, morocco gilt label in second compartment, speckled edges.

Collation: Six parts in one volume, folio. 107 copperplate engraved maps and all but one, 'Boulongne comitatus', are double-page on full sheets. The maps are all finely coloured by a contemporary hand, many with letterpress text on the versoes; includes woodcut initials and typographical ornaments.

Gerard Mercator’s ‘Atlas’ is among the most important cartographic works produced during the Renaissance. This is a rare first edition in original hand colour of his 'Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura', or ‘Atlas, or Cosmographical Meditations on the Fabric of the World, and The Figure of the Fabrick'd’.

The work is considered to be the first ‘modern’ scientific atlas produced in Europe. It was hugely influential for its use of techniques such as triangulation to significantly improve accuracy, and for adopting standardised map scales. This impressive atlas was published a year after his death by Mercator’s youngest son, Rumold (1545-1599), who completed the unfinished maps and added in his own celebrated double-hemisphere world map. The 'Atlas' contains a monumental 107 maps.

It is significant for the use of the term ‘Atlas’ to describe a collection of maps within a book. This name was chosen, as Mercator wrote, ‘to honour the Titan, Atlas, King of Mauretania, a learned philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer’. In the frontispiece of the work, Atlas can be seen holding a celestial sphere.

There are relatively few surviving works printed during Mercator's lifetime - his most famous was his first great eighteen-sheet world map that featured his eponymous rectangular projection. It was published in 1569 and only three copies are known to exist.

Intended to be a part of a grand ‘Cosmography’ published in five volumes, Mercator presented the first three issues of his ‘modern geography’ containing fifty-one maps (twenty-six of Germany, sixteen of France, nine of The Netherlands) in 1585. This was followed by a further twenty-two maps of Southeastern Europe in 1589: including maps of Italy, Greece, and the Balkans.

Gerard Mercator would become gravely ill, suffering a stroke in 1589 that would paralyse him for the rest of his life. To finish the ‘Atlas’, his son Rumold completed the remaining thirty-four unfinished maps in his father's image. These 'new' maps covered the four continents and North and East European regions - the British Isles, Iceland, Scandinavia, Prussia, Russia, the Baltics, Transylvania, Ukraine, and the North Pole. Notably excluded from the ‘Atlas’ were the Iberian Peninsula and regional maps of Asia and Africa.

Mercator’s modern atlas became seminal in European cartography. Utilising scientific techniques learnt during his time spent with Gemma Frisius at the University of Leuven, his work significantly advanced the precision and standardisation of maps which was embraced by later cartographers.

Due to the premature death of Rumold in 1599, the ‘Atlas’ was never finished in his father’s envisioned final form. Lack of initiative from other members of the Mercator family meant that business declined as a result and was eventually liquidated in 1604. It is at this time that Flemish map engraver and publisher Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612) purchased the copper plates from the Mercator estate. Hondius had been based in Belgium until 1584, when he moved to London to avoid religious persecution. In 1593, Hondius settled in Amsterdam - the undisputed capital of European map production at the time - where he remained until his death.

After acquiring Mercator’s plates, Hondius continued to publish editions of the ‘Atlas’, reaching fourteen editions by 1633. Posthumous 'Mercator-Hondius' editions notably elaborated on the great cartographer’s work by adding up to thirty-seven new maps: seven maps of Spain and Portugal, four of Africa, eleven of Asia, five of the Americas and six new European maps. Unusually, Hondius added new continental maps but did not remove the old ones.

Hondius was the first cartographer, apart from Rumold Mercator (who inherited his father's business), to publish a map using Mercator's Projection after the inventor's death. This map, known as the 'Christian Knight Map' (c.1597), was published in England and drew inspiration from an allegorical Christian etching by Hieronymous Wierix. Both the map and its source engraving are preserved in the Sunderland Collection.

Rumold Mercator's Double-Hemisphere world Map, first published in 1587

Map of Europe

Map of Africa

Map of Asia 

Map of the Americas, with inset maps of the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Map of the North Pole, with inset maps of Shetland (Scotland), the Faroe Islands, and the mythical island of Friesland

Map of Iceland

Map of the British Isles 

Map of Scotland 

Map of Northern Scotland 

Map of Scotland and Northern coast of Ireland

Map of Ireland 

Map of the North Part of Ireland 

Map of the South Part of Ireland

Map of eastern Ulster, Ireland 

Map of County Carlow, Ireland

Map of England, with part of Ireland and northern Francde

Map of Northern England and the border with Southern Scotland, marking Hadrian's Wall

Map of North West England, North Wales and the Isle of Man

Map of the South West England and South Wales

Map of the Midlands and Yorkshire, Eastern England 

Map of East and South East England

Maps of Anglesey,  Isle of Wight, Guernsey, Herm and Sark, and Jersey

Map of Scandinvaia, encompassing Norway, Sweden, Finland, with part of Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Russia

Map of Denmark 

Map of Northern part of Jutland, Denmark

Map of Schleswig-Holstein, including Hamburg and Lubeck, Germany.

Map of Fionia (Funen), Denmark

Map of Prussia (modern Germany, Poland, and Russia)

Map of Livonia (modern Latvia and Estonia) and part of Lithuania

Map of Russia and Scandinavia

Map of Lithuania with part of Belarus and Poland

Map of Transylvania (modern Romania)

Map of Ukraine with part of Belarus, Russia and Moldova

Map of France

Map of Brittany and Normandy, France

Map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in southwestern France. 

Map of Picardie and Champagne-Ardennes in northern France. 

Map of Anjou (modern Maine-et-Loire, centred on Angers), France. 

Map of the Berry Region (modern Indre and Cher départments), France

Appendix Map of Boulogne and Guînes in Northern France

Map of Poitou-Charentes (modern Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne), southwest France

Frontispiece, showing Atlas, King of Mauretania holding a celestial sphere

Map of northern Lotharingia (modern Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany west of the Rhine, the French provinces of Alsace, Lorraine, and Switzerland). 

Map of southern Lotharingia (modern Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany west of the Rhine, the French provinces of Alsace, Lorraine, and Switzerland). 

Map of Burgundy (modern Côte-d'Or, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, and Yonne), France and part of Switzerland covering Lake Geneva

Map of Burgundy (modern Côte-d'Or and Saône-et-Loire départments), France. Oriented west. 

Map of Zug, Schwyz, and Lucerne Cantons, Switzerland

Map of the Zurich Region Switzerland

Map of the Wiflispurgergow Region (modern Vaud, Fribourg, and Bern Cantons) Switzerland

Map of parts of Aargau, Zug, Zurich, Schwyz and Lucerne Cantons, Switzerland

Map of the Low Countries - Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, with parts of Germany and France, and the coast of South East England

Map of Flanders, Belgium

Map of Brabant (modern day North Brabant in the Netherlands,  and provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant, and Antwerp in Belgium

Map of the Netherlands, oriented west

Map of Zeeland, the Netherlands

Map of the provinces Gelderland, Flevoland and Overijssel with parts of Utrecht, in the Netherlands

Map of Artesia, or Artois, (modern Pas-de-Calais and Picardie départements), Northern France

Map of Namur (Wallonia) and Hannonia (Hainaut), Belgium

Map of Luxembourg and Trier (Rhineland-Palatinate) in Germany

Map of Germany, with parts of modern day Austria, Hungary, Czechia, Poland and Slovakia

Map of Western Friesland, the Netherlands

Map of East Friesland, and covering Lower Saxony (modern Emden and Oldenburg), Germany

Map of East Friesland, and the Rhine River region (parts of modern Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate extending from south Frankfurt to north Cologne, east to Cassell and Waldeck), Germany

Map of Central Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Map of Lower Saxony with part of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bremen, Germany

Map of the Principalities of Waldeck and Pyrmont (modern Hesse and Lower Saxony), Germany

Map of the Rhine River in the Palatinate region, Germany

Map of Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Map of Basse-Alsace showing the course of the Rhine River

Map of the course of the Rhine River covering Upper Alsace in France and Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany, including the Black Forest. Oriented west.

Map of Lower Saxony, northwest Germany

Map of Braunschweig (Lower Saxony) and Magdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt), Germany

Map of Hesse showing the Fulda River and centred on Hersfeld, Germany

Map of Thuringia, Germany 

Map of Frankfurt am Main, Heidelberg, Wurzburg, in Germany 

Map of Bavaria, Germany

Map of Southern Bavaria, Germany

Map of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg in Germany, and parts of Poland and Czechia. Details the Elba River from Worlitz and Wittenberg to Prague. 

Map of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany, and West Pomerania, Poland

Map of Bohemia (modern Czechia).

Map of Moravia (mordern Brno), Czechia

Map of Austria from Freistadt and Linz to Vienna

Map of Salzburg and Kärnten, Western Austria

Map of Poland and Silesia (Germany)

Map of Hungary

Map of Italy

Map of Lombardia, Italy

Map of Tyrol in Austria, with parts of Lombardia and Veneto, Italy

Map of Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Piedmont, Alpes-Maritimes in France and Monaco. Marking Milan, Cinque Terre in the southeast, Nice in the south and Val d'Aosta in the north, Italy

Map of Emila Romagna with parts of Toscana, Lombardia and Veneto in Italy. Includes Parma, Bologna, Ravenna, Florence, Cremona, Mantova, Brescia, Piacenza, Pisa and Ferrara. 

Map of Lombardy centring on Brescia, Italy 

Map of Veneto, Italy

Map of Istria, Croatia with parts of bordering Italy and Slovenia, with the Adriatic Sea between the Gulf of Trieste and Kvarner Gulf.

Map of Toscana, Italy 

Map of Marche and Umbria, Italy 

Map Lazio, Italy 

Map of Abruzzo, Italy

Map of Southern Italy, featuring provinces Calabria, Basilicata, Puglia, and Campagnia

Maps of Corsica and Sardinia 

This is the first complete edition of the 'Atlas', a work created during the lifetime of the most influential geographer since Classical Antiquity, Gerard Mercator.

It is recognised as the first truly modern scientific atlas, and the first time the name 'Atlas' was used for a collection of maps. The volume is in very fine condition and features stunning contemporary hand-colouring throughout.

Atlas

Mercator's Modern Atlas

or Cosmographical Meditations on the Fabric of the World, and The Figure of the Fabrick'd

Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura