Russia - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Finland, Scandinavia, Poland, Moldova, Transylvania; Gerard Mercator - Russie - Gravure sur cuivre, coloris d'époque - Gerard Mercator - 1621-1650

Ancient copper-engraved map of Europe Russia hand-colored by Mercator published in 1633 in the Mercator-Hondius atlas.

It shows a vast territory extending from Scandinavia and the Baltic to the Ob River, and from the White Sea to the Black Sea and to the Crimea. The title is inscribed in a cartouche with scrolls, colored in pink, blue, and yellow, at the bottom of the map.
An inset titled “Russiae pars Amplificata” enlarges the regions of Novgorod, Tver, Vologda, and the Volga. In the Ob region stands the idol “Zolotaia baba,” placed on a pedestal. The mountains and forests are drawn in perspective, and the seas are dotted. The scale is given in German miles.

The verso bears the French text “La Russie ou Moscovie” (pp. 181 and 184).

- Dimensions: on sheet: 56 x 47.5 cm; on the map plate: 46.9 x 35.3 cm
- Condition: Good overall for a map of this age. There is a central vertical crease, brown damp stains along the upper margin, and light soiling. See photos for details.

Atlas Mercator-Hondius
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The atlas called “Mercator-Hondius” revisits the work of Gerard Mercator, whose copper plates were bought back 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 added new maps.

Gerard Mercator
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Gerard Mercator (Rupelmonde, 1512 – Duisburg, 1594) is a Flemish cartographer, geographer, and engraver. Trained in Leuven, he produced a terrestrial globe there in 1541, then settled in Duisburg. In 1569, he developed the projection that bears his name. His Atlas was published posthumously in 1595 by his son Rumold. Jodocus Hondius bought the plates in 1604 and continued the edition in Amsterdam, with Henricus Hondius, who signs the imprint of 1627 carried on this map.