Balkans - Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Serbia; Gérard Mercator - Sclavonia, Croatia, Bosnia cum Dalmatiae parte - 1621-1650

Old copper-engraved map of Slavonia, Croatia, Bosnia and part of Dalmatia by Mercator, published in 1633 in the Mercator-Hondius atlas.

We see a leather-cut cartouche surmounted by two birds, bearing the title Sclavonia, Croatia, Bosnia cum Dalmatiae parte.

The map shows the courses of the Danube, the Sava, the Drava and the Drina, as well as the counties of Zagreb, Posega, Valcovar and Sirmium. The Dalmatian coast and its islands are bordered by the inscription “Golfo di Venetia.” The city of Belgrade appears on the right edge. A scale in German miles accompanies the map, along with the note “Per Gerardum Mercatorem Cum privilegio.”

- Dimensions: on the sheet: 56 × 47.5 cm; on the plate (map): 46.9 × 35.3 cm
- Condition: Very fine overall for a map of this period. Presence of a central vertical fold, light stains, and a few marks. See photos for details.

Atlas Mercator-Hondius
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The atlas called “Mercator-Hondius” reprises the work of Gerard Mercator, whose copper plates were purchased by Jodocus Hondius in 1604. This French edition of 1633 is signed by his son Henricus Hondius and his son-in-law Joannes Janssonius, who augmented it with new maps.

Gerard Mercator
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Gerard Mercator (Gerard de Cremer) was born in 1512 in Rupelmonde (Flanders) and died in 1594 in Duisburg. Trained at the University of Leuven, he counted Gemma Frisius among his contemporaries there. He produced the 1541 globe and the 1551 celestial globe, then a map of Europe in 1554. Settled in Duisburg, he presented in 1569 his world map in a conformal cylindrical projection, still in use today. His atlas appeared in parts (1585, 1589), then as a complete work in 1595, published after his death by his son Rumold. Jodocus Hondius acquired the copper plates in 1604, and the atlas was reissued in numerous editions, including the 1633 one.