Map of the Western Hemisphere of 1607 – America

Mercator’s foundation map of America

“America sive India Nova, ad Magnae Gerardi Mercatoris aui Universalis Imitationem in Compendium Redacta”, Mercator, Michael

This is one of the most famous maps of the Americas and an important base map for a collection of American maps.

After his grandfather’s death, Michael Mercator produced this impressive hemispheric map, the only known printed map attributed to him.

The map is surrounded by a beautiful engraved floral design and four roundels, one of which contains the title.

Other insets include the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba and Haiti. The geography is based on Rumold Mercator’s world map of 1587, with a few additional details.

There is a large inland lake in Canada, and the St Lawrence River runs almost halfway across the continent, with no Great Lakes.

There is also a bulge on the west coast of South America.

The great southern continent extends over the Tropic of Capricorn in the Pacific, where there is a very large island, New Guinea.

Above North America are two of the four islands of the North Pole, with the great mythical rivers flowing from it. The seas are full of mythical islands, including St Brendain, Frislant and Sept citez.

Latin text on verso with page number 39, indicating that this map belongs to the editions published between 1607-12.

References: Burden #87; Van der Krogt (Vol. I) #9000:1A.

Map of the Western Hemisphere 1607 – America America