Mercator, Gerard, and Claudius Ptolemy | Mercator's first atlas

Mercator, Gerard, and Claudius Ptolemy

[Tabulae Geographicae Cl: Ptolemei ad mentem autoris restitutae & emendate. Per Gerardum Mercatorem. Cologne: 1578 - ca. 1619]

Folio (410 x 320 mm). 28 engraved maps (all but one double-page), text in Latin, woodcut initials; lacking title. "Universalis Tabula Iuxta Ptolemum" with repair at upper margin, "Europae Tabula IX" and "Europae Tabula X" browned, crease to "Asiae Tabula VI," marginal paper flaw to "Asiae Tabula VII," some foxing and dampstaining throughout, dampstaining more predominant in final maps. Early parchment-covered flexible boards; soiled, spine worn with loss.

The first edition of Mercator's Ptolemaic atlas. The twenty-eight maps after Ptolemy were engraved by Gerard Mercator and are considered by many to be among his finest work. There were seven further editions of the plates issued up to 1730.

REFERENCE:

Koeman II: Me 1