| Method | Copper engraved with hand colour |
| Artist | Mercator, Gerard and Hondius, Jodocus |
| Published | [Amsterdam, c.1620] |
| Dimensions | 150 x 190 mm |
| Notes |
A decorative miniature map of the Eastern Mediterranean, depicting the wanderings of the Israelites, from a Latin edition of the Mercator-Hondius Atlas Minor. The map, based upon the events of the biblical Book of Exodus, traces the journey of Moses and the Israelites, from Egypt to Canaan. Significant points along their journey are marked and numbered, beginning with the Pharaonic city of Pi-Rammesses, crossing the Red Sea, through the Deserts of Schur, Idumaea, and Edom, passing the kingdoms of Midian and Moab, to the completion of the journey near Jericho and Jerusalem. The coasts and borders of Egypt and the Holy Land are outlined in hand colour, principal cities are picked out in red, and mountains, rivers, and inland seas and lakes are also highlighted in hand colour. Pharaoh's army can be seen drowning in the Red Sea, while other biblical events, such as the worship of the golden calf at Sinai, and the attack of Amalech at Raphidim, are depicted pictorially. In the bottom right corner, a depiction of the camp of the Israelites around the Tabernacle is enclosed in a strapwork cartouche, while another smaller cartouche in the left corner of the map encloses the title and a pair of scales in German and Dutch miles. The map was likely inspired by a similar large scale example published by Ortelius for the Parergon, a collection of maps on classical and biblical subjects intended as a supplement to the famous Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Gerard Mercator (1512 - 1594) originally a student of philosophy was one of the most renowned cosmographers and geographers of the 16th century, as well as an accomplished scientific instrument maker. He is most famous for introducing Mercators Projection, a system which allowed navigators to plot the same constant compass bearing on a flat map. His first maps were published in 1537 (Palestine), and 1538 (a map of the world), although his main occupation at this time was globe-making. He later moved to Duisburg, in Germany, where he produced his outstanding wall maps of Europe and of Britain. In 1569 he published his masterpiece, the twenty-one-sheet map of the world, constructed on Mercator's projection. His Atlas, sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi, was completed by his son Rumold and published in 1595. After Rumold's death in 1599, the plates for the atlas were published by Gerard Jr. Following his death in 1604, the printing stock was bought at auction by Jodocus Hondius, and re-issued well into the seventeenth century. Jodocus Hondius (14th October 1563 - 12th February 1612) was a Dutch Flemish cartographer, engraver, and publisher. Hondius is most famous for reviving the primacy of the work of Gerard Mercator, through the publication of his Atlas, and the smaller Atlas Minor, in the early seventeenth century, at a time when cartography was largely dominated by Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. The Mercator-Hondius Atlas was composed of maps pulled from plates Hondius had purchased from Mercator's grandson, as well as thirty-six new plates Hondius commissioned, and in many cases engraved, himself. He is also believed to have been the chief engraver of the plates for John Speed's Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. Following his death, he was succeeded by his sons, Jodocus the Younger and Henricus, as well as his son in law Jan Jansson. Condition: Minor creasing to margins. Manuscript notation 'jerusalem' in old hand under 'Hierosolyma.' Latin letterpress title above, and Latin letterpress text on verso. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £325.00 |
| Stock ID | 53060 |