First published in the ‘Gerardi Mercatoris Et I. Hondii 

’ (1633). Four states are known of the map. The first is dated 1630; the second has ‘Amstelodami Execudit Ioannes Ianssonius’ added along the bottom edge; after which the map was included in Van Loon’s sea atlas of 1663, and Jansson’s ‘

The two hemispheres of this lavishly decorated world map are surrounded by a complex border combining astronomical and earthly cycles in order to link the Earth in the centre to wider ideas of balance within the cosmos. The Sun and Moon are in the cusps between the hemispheres. At the bottom is a representation of the continents of Africa, India, and the Americas, offering tribute to the enthroned Europe. At the top, there is a celestial globe garlanded with fruits and flowers.

Portraits of Julius Caesar, Claudius Ptolemy, Jodocus Hondius, and 

 are featured in each corner. Next to the portraits are personifications of the four elements shown as classical deities, along with animals at home in those elements. Fire is represented by Apollo driving a sun chariot, holding a phoenix and accompanied by a salamander and a dragon. Air is represented by Selene, surrounded by a pair of cranes and an eagle, and holding a chameleon, which was thought to live on air. Earth is represented by Demeter holding a cornucopia, with the exotic accompaniment of an elephant, camel, and lion. Water is shown by Poseidon (or a river god) with a sea serpent and a whale.

Geographically, the depiction of the Americas is notable: California is shown as an island, and the western coast (labelled ‘Nova Albion’) is extended off the edge of the map. However, it is not shown joining Asia in the right hemisphere, suggesting the possibility of a strait between them. There is a note on the left hemisphere recording that the Americas were discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and named for Amerigo Vespucci in 1499. The 'discoveries' of Ferdinand Magellan and Jacob Le Maire have both been incorporated into the depiction of South America.

In Asia, Korea is correctly shown as an isthmus. Below, a vague outline is given for Terra Australis, the legendary southern continent, which is also shown joining the bottom of South America.

In 1587, Rumold Mercator issued a reduced version of his father’s great modern world map, which had first been printed in an edition of Strabo's ‘

’. It was another eight years before it first appeared in a Mercator atlas, in 1595, and then again in 1602, before the copperplate was acquired by Jodocus Hondius who obtained the copperplates of 

's atlases in Leiden at the auction of Mercator's library, then in the possession of his grandson, 

 II. The text was updated by Petrus Montanus. After Jodocus Hondius' death, his widow with her seven children continued publishing the atlases under the name of Jodocus Hondius until 1620. Jan Jansson (1588–1664) joined the firm in 1612 after marrying Elizabeth Hondius in 1612. After 1619, the ‘

’ was published under the name of Henricus Hondius (Jodocus Hondius' son).

The Hondius family continued to issue the original world map, unchanged until the 1630s, despite increasing damage to the copper plate. In 1629, Henricus Hondius and his brother-in-law and business partner, 

, revised the Mercator-Hondius atlas amidst competition from 

. The new Hondius-Janssonius world map, as here, then had as long a life as its predecessor and was included in all subsequent issues of the ‘Gerardi Mercatoris Et I. Hondii 

A superb example of the lavishly decorated new Mercator-Hondius world map, created to compete with the rise of the House of Blaeu. The two hemispheres of the map are surrounded by a complex border combining astronomical and earthly cycles in order to link the Earth in the centre to wider ideas of balance within the cosmos. The Sun and Moon are in the cusps between the hemispheres. At the bottom is a representation of the continents of Africa, India, and the Americas, offering tribute to the enthroned Europe. At the top, there is a celestial globe garlanded with fruits and flowers. 

A superb example of the lavishly decorated new Mercator-Hondius world map, created to compete with the rise of the House of Blaeu.

Double-page engraved copperplate double-hemisphere map of the world, with contemporary hand-colour in full.

Hondius’ World Map