Africae Descriptio.

Gerhard Mercator /Iodocus Hondius

Published 1607, Amsterdam

Size: 9" X 7"

Condition: Small professional repair in upper right quadrant.

Description:

A rare map of Africa  by Gerhard Mercator published at the turn of the 17th Century  in Hondius’ Atlas Minor Gerardi Mercatoris…
It is argued that “Gerardus Mercator can confidently be called the greatest cartographer of the sixteenth century, he helped to establish Amsterdam as the leading centre of 16th Century cartography.”
Mercator’s maps would have originally been published by his son, Rumold, in the Atlas, sive Cosmographical Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi.  
Following Rumold's death in 1599, the plates for the atlas would eventually be sold in  1604 to Jodocus Hondius, and re-issued in its condensed format in the Atlas Minor. 
(Source: Rumsey, D. , David Ramsey Map Collection)