The Mercator Atlas of Europe Facsimile of the Maps by Gerardus Mercator in the Atlas of Europe, Circa 1570 - 1572

Published by Walking Tree Press, 1998, hardcover folio, book of 92 pages of text, maps and illustrations in fine color with stiff paper wraps and 16 folded color maps - potfolio bound in original green cloth covered boards in near fine condition and housed in original green paper covered slip case also near fine. 28.2 cms x 41.8 cms x 3.3 cms, Contents are facsimile maps in fine condition. 

The Mercator Atlas of Europe from Walking Tree Press represents a remarkable publishing achievement, combining the best of historical and cartographic scholarship with modern printing technology to produce a unique and elegant set of seventeen facsimile maps by one of history's greatest mapmakers. Completing the set and complementing the map facsimiles, the accompanying book contains essays contributed by an international team of distinguished map scholars.
With more than 100 original-color illustrations drawn from collections throughout Europe and the United States, the companion book places Mercator's first-known atlas in historical perspective and offers the reader a unique glimpse into the geography and cartography of sixteenth-century Europe.

The Marshall of Jülich approached Mercator and asked him to prepare a set of European regional maps which would serve for a grand tour by his patron's son, the crown prince Johannes, who became the last Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (The United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire between 1521 and 1614). This remarkable collection is now held in the British Library under the title, ' Atlas of Europe'.

The Mercator Atlas of Europe is truly a "feast for the eyes and mind, combining the high art of maps with first-rate scholarly pursuitsa marvelous union that Mercator would surely endorse."

Gerardus Mercator was a Flemish geographer, cosmographer and cartographer. He is most renowned for creating the 1569 world map based on a new projection which represented sailing courses of constant bearing (rhumb lines) as straight linesan innovation that is still employed in nautical charts.