100-101 / 160
101
The R.S.J.Clarke Collection of Cartography
15
th
December 2015
250
Mercator / Hondios
Potraits, seated with globes
Taken from the Atlas sive Cosmo Graphicae Meditationes de
Fabrica, Mundi et Fabricati Figura. 1613 edition. 390 x 450.
€ 500 - 800
251
Gerard Mercator (1512-1594)
A Set of Five Maps, Ireland,
The Northern Part, the Southern Part, Ultonia and Udrone. From Vol 3 of the first edition of his Atlas sive Cosmographica. Latin text, 1595, fine original colour. Abl P135. (1-5)
C470 x 340
Gerard Mercator 1512 - 1594
Mercator was born in the town of Rupelmonde where he was named Gerard de Kremer, or de Cremer. He was raised in Gangelt in the Duchy of Jülich, the home town of his parents. Mercator is the Latinized
form of his name which means “merchant”. He was educated in the then Belgian city of Hertogenbosch by the famous humanist Macropedius, and at the University of Leuven (both in the historical Duchy of
Brabant, as part of Belgium). Despite Mercator’s fame as a cartographer, his main source of income came through his craftsmanship of mathematical instruments. In Leuven, he worked with Gemma Frisius and
Gaspar Van Der Heyden (Gaspar Myrica) from 1535 to 1536, to construct a terrestrial globe, although the role of Mercator in the project was not primarily as a cartographer, but rather as a highly skilled engrav-
er of brass plates. Mercator’s own independent map-making began only when he produced a map of Palestine in 1537; this map was followed by another—a map of the world (1538) – and a map of the County
of Flanders (1540). During this period he learned Italic script because it was the most suitable type of script for copper engraving of maps. He wrote the first instruction book of Italic script published in northern
Europe. Following his move to Duisburg, Mercator never left the city and died there, a respected and wealthy citizen.
€ 1,200 - 1,500
252
Mercator / Hondius
Three maps,
Irlandia Regnum 1613,
Ultionia 1623, and Udrone. 1613. Latin text. Abl P140.1, 141.4 & 140.5. (3)
C470 x 340
€ 550 - 650