1628 Septentrionalium Terrarum Descriptio Per Gerardum Mercatorem Cum Privilegio

By: Gerard Mercator Date: 1628 (Published) Amsterdam Dimensions: 14.5 x 15.5 inches (36.8 cm x 39.5 cm) This is an authentic, antique map of the Northern Pole by Gerard Mercator. The map was published out of Amsterdam in 1628 as part of Atlas sive Cosmographicae. This landmark map was the first separately printed map to focus on the Arctic. The North Pole is depicted according to legend as a massive rock, surrounded by circulating waters, feeding four rivers that separate four large islands. Interestingly, magnetic north is noted with a separate island between Asia and North America, just north of the Strait of Anian. In North America, there is a very early reference to California (California regio, sola fama Hispanis nota), curiously shown north of the El streto de Anian. The map depicts the attempts of Frobisher and Davis to locate the northern passages to Asia. In the North Atlantic, Greenland is given an interesting shape, Iceland closely resembles Ortelius’s depiction, which was