Atlas Minor Gerardi Mercatoris. Amsterdam, [1610]. Latin. Third edition.
Atlas by the geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594). Illustrated title page, an allegoric engraved plate and 143 maps (engravings) of different countries worldwide, including a map of Palestine. Some of the maps are colored by hand. Lacking ten maps.
Mercator was considered the most important cartographer in the 16th century. The first two maps created by Mercator were a map of Palestine (1537) and a world map (1538). One of his most important contributions to cartography is the projection he created in 1569 (on which he based a word map), called today the "Mercator Projection". Mercator was the first to use the word "Atlas" to define a book with maps.
[4], 536, 545-664 pp [originally: [4], 684 pp. Lacking pages 537-544 (with two maps), and pages 665-684 (with eight maps)], 22X18 cm. Fair condition. Stained. Tears at margins of some of the leaves. Worming. Markings and inscriptions (contemporary), in ink, on part of the leaves. Vellum binding, worn and torn, almost totally detached (with pieces of cloth pasted between the cover boards and the first and last leaves).