Details
MERCATOR, RUMOLD (ca. 1545-99). Orbis Terrae compendiosa descriptio. [Geneva], 1587. Engraved map, single sheet, 356 x 530 mm., showing the world in two hemispheres, strapwork decorative border with compass rose and armillary sphere. Letterpress text below the map in 4 lines, including the heading, "Lectori S. P." Verso blank. (Small tears to left-hand margin, not affecting image.) Matted and framed.
Early (first?) edition of Rumold Mercator's condensed double-hemisphere version of his father's great 21-sheet world map of 1569. This edition or issue does not correspond to any of those listed by Koeman or Shirley, who describe an early issue with no text on the back and Latin letterpress text printed below the map as here, but with that text laid out in four columns. This is probably one of the separately published editions alluded to by Shirley, or it could be a variant issue of the map as first published with Isaac Casaubon's 1587 edition of Strabo. The map was reprinted in several editions of Mercator's atlas. Koeman II, p. 291; Shirley 157.
Early (first?) edition of Rumold Mercator's condensed double-hemisphere version of his father's great 21-sheet world map of 1569. This edition or issue does not correspond to any of those listed by Koeman or Shirley, who describe an early issue with no text on the back and Latin letterpress text printed below the map as here, but with that text laid out in four columns. This is probably one of the separately published editions alluded to by Shirley, or it could be a variant issue of the map as first published with Isaac Casaubon's 1587 edition of Strabo. The map was reprinted in several editions of Mercator's atlas. Koeman II, p. 291; Shirley 157.