This product is successfully added to your cart
Questions about this product? (#19091)

Authenticity Guarantee
All items are guaranteed authentic prints (woodcuts or engravings) or manuscripts made at or about (c.) the given date and in good condition unless stated otherwise. We don’t sell facsimiles or reproductions. We deliver every map with a Certificate of Authenticity containing all the details.

Ost-Friesland, Oldenburg, and Bremen by Gerard Mercator. 1595

Gerard Mercator (1512 – 1594)

Gerard Mercator was born Gerard de Cremere in Rupelmonde (near Antwerp) on 5 March 1512.

Young Gerard learned what Latin he could in Rupelmonde, and when he was about fifteen, his uncle sent him to s'Hertogenbosch to study at a school run by the Brothers of the Common Life. One of Mercator’s teachers was the celebrated humanist Macropedius. After three and a half years with the brothers, Gerard went to Louvain, where he enrolled in the university in 1530 as one of the poor students at Castle College.

By this time, he had Latinized his name to Mercator. He studied philosophy and took his master’s degree in 1532. The problems of the creation of the Universe and the Earth interested him in particular, and this is reflected in his works written in later years.

After spending a few years in Antwerp, he returned to Louvain in c. 1535, where he took courses in mathematics under Gemma Frisius. Soon, he was recognised as an expert on the construction of mathematical instruments, as a land surveyor and, after 1537, as a cartographer. He drew his income from these activities after his marriage on August 3, 1536. He also qualified himself as a copper engraver, the first to introduce italic handwriting to this trade. The first maps, drawn and engraved by Gerard Mercator, are Palestine, 1537; the World in double heart-shaped projection, 1538; and Flanders, 1540.

In 1544, Mercator came into great danger: he was arrested on the accusation of heresy and put into jail. Thanks to the intervention of the University of Louvain, he was released after four months. In 1552, he moved with his family to Duisburg (Germany). In 1560, Mercator became a cosmographer in service of the Duke of Jülich-Cleve-Berge, and in 1563, he became a lecturer at the Grammar School of the new University in Duisburg. During this period, he made wall maps of Europe, 1554; of Loraine, 1564; the British Isles, 1564; and the famous world map with increasing latitudes, 1569. About this time, Mercator was also working on the project for a complete description of the creation, the Heavens, Earth, Sea and world history. This resulted in his Atlas, sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et fabricati figura. He also worked on an edition of Ptolemy’s Geographia in 1578. The first part of his book, which contains modern maps (France, Germany, and the Netherlands), appeared in 1585.

Shortly after the publication of the second part of his map book (not yet called Atlas) with the maps of Italy (1589), he had a stroke that ended his highly significant productivity. The great man passed away on 2 December 1594, leaving the responsibility of finishing the map book to his son Rumold. The final part of it appeared in 1595. Its title is Pars Altera, and it constitutes an essential part of what was then called Mercator’s Atlas.

The map of Europe and the world map in the Atlas are by Rumold Mercator. After Rumold died in 1599, the Atlas was reissued in 1602.

The plates of the maps, both of the Ptolemy edition and the Atlas, were sold in 1604 to Jodocus Hondius of Amsterdam. The following year, Hondius managed to bring out Ptolemy’s Geographia. In 1606, the first Amsterdam edition of the Mercator Atlas appeared in the next year. From then to 1638, the Atlas saw many enlarged editions in various languages.

back

Westfalia Cum Dioecesi Bremensi

€300  ($336 / £252)
add to cart
Buy now
questions?
PRINT

Item Number:  19091 Authenticity Guarantee

Category:  Antique maps > Europe > Germany

Old, antique map of Ost-Friesland, Oldenburg, and Bremen by Gerard Mercator.

Title: Westfalia Cum Dioecesi Bremensi

Date of the first edition: 1585.
Date of this map: 1595.

Copper engraving, printed on paper.
Size (not including margins): 360 x 460mm (14.17 x 18.11 inches).
Verso: Blank.
Condition: Ost-Friesland, Oldenburg, and Bremen.
Condition Rating: A+.

From: Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura. Gerardo Mercatore Rupelmundano ... Dusseldorpii Excudebat Ambertus Busius Illustrissimi Ducis Iuliae, Cliviae, Montis, &c. Typographus, Sumptibus haeredum Gerardi Mercatoris Rupelmundani, Anno 1595. (Van der Krogt 1, 1:011) First edition of Mercator's world atlas.

Gerard Mercator (1512 – 1594)

Gerard Mercator was born Gerard de Cremere in Rupelmonde (near Antwerp) on 5 March 1512.

Young Gerard learned what Latin he could in Rupelmonde, and when he was about fifteen, his uncle sent him to s'Hertogenbosch to study at a school run by the Brothers of the Common Life. One of Mercator’s teachers was the celebrated humanist Macropedius. After three and a half years with the brothers, Gerard went to Louvain, where he enrolled in the university in 1530 as one of the poor students at Castle College.

By this time, he had Latinized his name to Mercator. He studied philosophy and took his master’s degree in 1532. The problems of the creation of the Universe and the Earth interested him in particular, and this is reflected in his works written in later years.

After spending a few years in Antwerp, he returned to Louvain in c. 1535, where he took courses in mathematics under Gemma Frisius. Soon, he was recognised as an expert on the construction of mathematical instruments, as a land surveyor and, after 1537, as a cartographer. He drew his income from these activities after his marriage on August 3, 1536. He also qualified himself as a copper engraver, the first to introduce italic handwriting to this trade. The first maps, drawn and engraved by Gerard Mercator, are Palestine, 1537; the World in double heart-shaped projection, 1538; and Flanders, 1540.

In 1544, Mercator came into great danger: he was arrested on the accusation of heresy and put into jail. Thanks to the intervention of the University of Louvain, he was released after four months. In 1552, he moved with his family to Duisburg (Germany). In 1560, Mercator became a cosmographer in service of the Duke of Jülich-Cleve-Berge, and in 1563, he became a lecturer at the Grammar School of the new University in Duisburg. During this period, he made wall maps of Europe, 1554; of Loraine, 1564; the British Isles, 1564; and the famous world map with increasing latitudes, 1569. About this time, Mercator was also working on the project for a complete description of the creation, the Heavens, Earth, Sea and world history. This resulted in his Atlas, sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et fabricati figura. He also worked on an edition of Ptolemy’s Geographia in 1578. The first part of his book, which contains modern maps (France, Germany, and the Netherlands), appeared in 1585.

Shortly after the publication of the second part of his map book (not yet called Atlas) with the maps of Italy (1589), he had a stroke that ended his highly significant productivity. The great man passed away on 2 December 1594, leaving the responsibility of finishing the map book to his son Rumold. The final part of it appeared in 1595. Its title is Pars Altera, and it constitutes an essential part of what was then called Mercator’s Atlas.

The map of Europe and the world map in the Atlas are by Rumold Mercator. After Rumold died in 1599, the Atlas was reissued in 1602.

The plates of the maps, both of the Ptolemy edition and the Atlas, were sold in 1604 to Jodocus Hondius of Amsterdam. The following year, Hondius managed to bring out Ptolemy’s Geographia. In 1606, the first Amsterdam edition of the Mercator Atlas appeared in the next year. From then to 1638, the Atlas saw many enlarged editions in various languages.

References: Van der Krogt 1 - 2301:1.1

Related items

Friesland, by Frederik De Wit.

Tabula Comitatus Frisiae. Auctore B: Schotano à Sterringa. c. 1680
Friesland, by Frederik De Wit.
[Item number: 2635]

€280  ($313.6 / £235.2)
Oldenburg, by F. de Wit.

Oldenburg Comitatus c. 1680
Oldenburg, by F. de Wit.
[Item number: 13774]

€220  ($246.4 / £184.8)
Friesland by Homann Heirs.

Charte von Friesland 1759-1784
Friesland by Homann Heirs.
[Item number: 13868]

€180  ($201.6 / £151.2)
Friesland by Nicolaas Visscher II.

Dominii Frisiae Tabula, inter Flevum et Lavicam. c. 1678
Friesland by Nicolaas Visscher II.
[Item number: 18688]

€330  ($369.6 / £277.2)
Ost-Friesland by Ortelius A.

Frisia Orientalis [With inset:] Rideriae Portionis. 1612
Ost-Friesland by Ortelius A.
[Item number: 22948]

€550  ($616 / £462)
Dithmarschen - Oldenburg by Ortelius A.

Thietmarsiae, Holsaticae Regionis Partis Typus. - Oldenburg Comit. 1612
Dithmarschen - Oldenburg by Ortelius A.
[Item number: 23001]

€250  ($280 / £210)
Ost-Friesland by Abraham Ortelius.

Frisia Orientalis [With inset:] Rideriae Portionis. 1612
Ost-Friesland by Abraham Ortelius.
[Item number: 23047]

€460  ($515.2 / £386.4)
Friesland, by Ottens R. & I.

Frisiae Dominium vernacule Friesland, Ca. 1730
Friesland, by Ottens R. & I.
[Item number: 25746]

€480  ($537.6 / £403.2)
Ost-Friesland, by Willem Blaeu.

Typus Frisiae Orientalis. 1643
Ost-Friesland, by Willem Blaeu.
[Item number: 27110]

€370  ($414.4 / £310.8)
Emden - Oldenburg, by Gerard Mercator.

Emden & Oldenborch Comit. 1623
Emden - Oldenburg, by Gerard Mercator.
[Item number: 28134]

€360  ($403.2 / £302.4)
Ost-Friesland by Petrus Kaerius (Pieter Van den Keere).

TYPUS Frisiae Orientalis à Dullarto sinu, atq. amasi ostio ad Iada usq fl. singulari studio ac industria concinat et ad vivum expressus. 1622
Ost-Friesland by Petrus Kaerius (Pieter Van den Keere).
[Item number: 28212]

€650  ($728 / £546)
Ost-Friesland by Petrus Kaerius (Pieter Van den Keere).

TYPUS Frisiae Orientalis à Dullarto sinu, atq. amasi ostio ad Iada usq fl. singulari studio ac industria concinat et ad vivum expressus. 1622
Ost-Friesland by Petrus Kaerius (Pieter Van den Keere).
[Item number: 28531]

€950  ($1064 / £798)
The Duchies of Bremen and Verden by Nicolaes Visscher I.

Ducatus Bremae et Ferdae, Maximaeque partis Ducatus Stormariae, Comitatus Oldenburgi, Albis, Visurgisque Fluminum Novissima Descriptio. 1656-77
The Duchies of Bremen and Verden by Nicolaes Visscher I.
[Item number: 28547]

€300  ($336 / £252)
Friesland & Groningen by Nicolaes Visscher I.

Tabula Frisiae, Groningae, er Territorii Emdensis nec non circumjacentium Regionum, puta Transisalaniae, Benthemiae, Westphaliae et Oldenburgi. 1656-80
Friesland & Groningen by Nicolaes Visscher I.
[Item number: 28601]

€600  ($672 / £504)
 East Friesland by Ortelius Abraham

Frisiae Orientalis Descriptio. 1584
East Friesland by Ortelius Abraham
[Item number: 29132]

€550  ($616 / £462)
Denmark and Jutland by Abraham Ortelius.

Daniae Regni Typus Cornelius Antoniades Descripsit; [On sheet with:] Oldenburg Comit. 1584
Denmark and Jutland by Abraham Ortelius.
[Item number: 29133]

€700  ($784 / £588)
Oldenburg by Johannes Janssonius.

Oldenburg Comitatus. 1653
Oldenburg by Johannes Janssonius.
[Item number: 30373]

€270  ($302.4 / £226.8)
Ost-Friesland, Oldenburg, and Bremen by Johannes Janssonius after Gerard Mercator.

Episcopatus Bremensis cum Adiacentibus. 1653
Ost-Friesland, Oldenburg, and Bremen by Johannes Janssonius after Gerard Mercator.
[Item number: 30374]

€380  ($425.6 / £319.2)
The Wadden Sea, by Henricus Hondius.

Nieuwe Caerte waerinne vertoont wordt de gantsche Vaert van Amsterdam over de Watten tot de stadt Hamborch toe. 1653
The Wadden Sea, by Henricus Hondius.
[Item number: 30375]

€900  ($1008 / £756)