Hondius, Jodocus; Mercator, Gerardus
The first edition of the famous Mercator-Hondius Atlas, which follows the arrangement of the complete Mercator Atlas published by Gerard Mercator’s son Rumold in 1595 as the Atlas Sive Cosmographicæ Meditationes De Fabrica Mvndi Et Fabricati Figvra. Gerard Mercator (1512-1594) coined the term ‘Atlas’ and published parts of his work before passing away in 1594. Mercator is known mostly for his attempt to represent the spherical earth as accurately as possible on a flat sheet of paper, now called the Mercator projection.
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Folio. [16], 354, [12] pp. [+ 8 + 4 + 4 + 8 = 24 pp. for the indexes], with engraved title-page and 144 mostly double-page maps, with explanatory texts on the recto of the first and on the verso of the second folio (the text pages on the rectos and versos of the maps are paginated 33-354). Original full calf, re-cased, original covers pasted to the new boards, blind tooled large center-piece on both sides within blind tooled diamond-shaped and blind ruled frame, gilt corner pieces and ornamented gilt border along the edges, six raised bands with gilt title, red painted edges. Many maps with various degrees of browning, some a bit soiled and stained (esp. pp, 99-102), small wormhole to title and following three leaves; tightly (re-)bound, gilding worn. Some maps misbound.
Around 1604 the Flemish engraver and cartographer Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612), together with the pioneering Amsterdam publisher and mapmaker Cornelis Claesz. (ca. 1551-1609), had obtained the copperplates of the Mercator Atlas. They probably bought them directly from Gerard Mercator Jr., grandson of Gerard Mercator. Hondius and Claesz planned a new edition of Mercator’s Atlas, and to compete with rival Abraham Ortelius, Hondius expanded the atlas by combining Mercator’s 107 original plates with 37 newly engraved maps from his Amsterdam workshop, and by adding a partly new text to the maps, written by Petrus Montanus (ca. 1560- ca. 1626), who collaborated with Hondius, helping him with the translation, writing and editing explanatory texts for several of Hondius’ Atlases.
All this resulted in the publication in 1606 of this amazing, so-called Mercator-Hondius Atlas, which soon became one of the most significant milestones in cartographic history.
It marked the first time a truly comprehensive world atlas was published under Gerard Mercator’s name. While Mercator’s original focus heavily favoured Europe, Hondius added highly detailed regional maps of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, successfully transforming it into a global masterwork. Many maps are showing the results of the latest discoveries. The Arctic map for example reflects a fascinating mix of myth and exploration, visualizing the Noth Pole as a massive magnetic rock surrounded by a whirlpool, while updating the text to account for recent Dutch voyages around Spitsbergen. The Atlas features also influential depictions of the New World, such as the maps of Florida, Carolina, Virginia and New Spain (Mexico).
Aesthetically speaking, Hondius brought the Atlas to an unprecedented level by introducing beautifully executed water typography, formal calligraphy, and decorative borders that made Amsterdam the epicenter of 17th century cartography. The Atlas became so popular that already the next year a new edition had to be published, and by 1633 there were 6 Latin and 5 French editions of the Mercator-Hondius Atlas.
P. van der Krogt, Koeman’s Atlantes Neerlandici. New ed., vol. 1, no. 1.101A (pp. 62-68): this copy is complete.
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