Click on image to zoom
One of the new maps added by Hondius, when he took over publication of the Atlas, a finely engraved and decorative map of north-west Africa, with the Canaries. With an inset of the island of Penon de Veles. Mercator was born in Rupelmonde in Flanders and studied in Louvain under Gemma Frisius, Dutch writer, astronomer and mathematician. The excellence of his work brought him the patronage of Charles V, but in spite of his favor with the Emperor he was caught up in the persecution of Lutheran protestants and charged with heresy, fortunately without serious consequences.
No doubt the fear of further persecution influenced his move in 1552 to Duisburg, where he continued the production of maps, globes and instruments. Mercator's sons and grandsons were all cartographers who made their contributions to his atlas in various ways. Rumold, in particular, was responsible for the complete edition in 1595. The map plates were purchased in 1604 by Jodocus Hondius, who, along with his sons Jodocus II and Henricus, published enlarged editions that dominated the map market for the next twenty to thirty years.
