The Mercator Atlas of Europe

92 pp. 16" x 10 3/4". Plus 14 fold-out color maps of Tiroliis, Hispania, Gallia, Italia, Germania, Graecia, Svetia, Sarmatia, Asia Minor, Irlandia, Anglia, Cornewallia, Scotia, Herides, Orcades, Europae, Britanni, Gronlan. Facsimile of the maps by Gerardus Mercator contained in the Atlas of Europe, circa 1570-1572. CONTENTS: The Atlas of Europe, circa 1570-1572, Marcel Watelet; Atlas, Birth of a Title, James R. Akerman; The Map of Europe, Arthur Durst; The British Isles, Peter M. Barber; The 1569 World Map, Mireille Pastoureau; Notes. Gerardus Mercator, original name Gerard De Cremer, or Kremer', (born March 5, 1512, Rupelmonde, Flanders [now in Belgium]—died December 2, 1594, Duisburg, Duchy of Cleve [Germany]), Flemish cartographer whose most important innovation was a map, embodying what was later known as the Mercator projection, on which parallels and meridians are rendered as straight lines spaced so as to produce at any point an accurate ratio of latitude to longitude. He also introduced the term atlas for a collection of maps. Mercator’s family had moved from Germany to Flanders shortly before he was born. He was educated in Hertogenbosch (Netherlands), receiving training in Christian doctrine, dialectics, and Latin. In 1530 he entered the Catholic University of Leuven (Louvain [Belgium]) to study the humanities and philosophy and graduated with a master’s degree in 1532. Religious doubts assailed him about this time, for he could not reconcile the biblical account of the origin of the universe with that of Aristotle. After two years of study which led him to Antwerp and Mechelen he emerged from his personal crisis, fortified in his faith, with less enthusiasm for philosophical speculation. Moreover, he brought back to Leuven a freshly acquired taste for geography. Under the guidance of Gemma Frisius, the leading theoretical mathematician in the Low Countries, who was also a physician and astronomer, Mercator mastered the essentials of mathematics, geography, and astronomy. Frisius and Mercator also frequented the workshop of Gaspar à Myrica, an engraver and goldsmith. The combined work of these three men soon made Leuven an important centre for the construction of globes, maps, and astronomical instruments. In 1534 Mercator married Barbara Schellekens, by whom he had six children. By the time he was age 24, Mercator was a superb engraver, an outstanding calligrapher, and a highly skilled scientific-instrument maker. In 1535–36 he cooperated with Myrica and Frisius in constructing a terrestrial globe and in 1537 its celestial counterpart. These globes demonstrate the free and graceful italic lettering with which Mercator was to change the face of 16th-century maps. During that period he also began to build his reputation as the foremost geographer of the century with a series of printed cartographic works: in 1537 a map of Palestine, in 1538 a map of the world on a double heart-shaped projection, and about 1540 a map of Flanders. In 1540 he also published a concise manual on italic lettering, the Literarum Latinarum quas Italicas cursoriasque vocant scribende ratio, for which he engraved the wood blocks himself. In 1544 he was arrested and imprisoned on a charge of heresy. His inclination to Protestantism, and frequent absences from Leuven to gather information for his maps, had aroused suspicions; he was one of 43 citizens so charged. But the university authorities stood behind him. He was released after seven months and resumed his former way of life. He obtained a privilege to print and publish books and was free to continue his scientific studies. - Britannica