Mercator world map of 1569

The Mercator world map of 1569 is titled Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigantium Emendate Accommodata (Renaissance Latin for "New and more complete representation of the terrestrial globe properly adapted for use in navigation"). The title shows that Gerardus Mercator aimed to present contemporary knowledge of the geography of the world and at the same time 'correct' the chart to be more useful to sailors. This 'correction', whereby constant bearing sailing courses on the sphere (rhumb lines) are mapped to straight lines on the plane map, characterizes the Mercator projection. While the map's geography has been superseded by modern knowledge, its projection proved to be one of the most significant advances in the history of cartography, inspiring map historian Nordenskiöld to write "The master of Rupelmonde stands unsurpassed in the history of cartography since the time of Ptolemy."^[2] The projection heralded a new era in the evolution of navigation maps and charts and it is still their basis.

The map is inscribed with a great deal of text. The framed map legends (or cartouches) cover a wide variety of topics: a dedication to his patron and a copyright statement; discussions of rhumb lines, great circles and distances; comments on some of the major rivers; accounts of fictitious geography of the north pole and the southern continent. The full Latin texts and English translations of all the legends are given below. Other minor texts are sprinkled about the map. They cover such topics as the magnetic poles, the prime meridian, navigational features, minor geographical details, the voyages of discovery and myths of giants and cannibals. These minor texts are also given below.

A comparison with world maps before 1569 shows how closely Mercator drew on the work of other cartographers and his own previous works, but he declares (Legend 3) that he was also greatly indebted to many new charts prepared by Portuguese and Spanish sailors in the portolan tradition. Earlier cartographers of world maps had largely ignored the more accurate practical charts of sailors, and vice versa, but the age of discovery, from the closing decade of the fifteenth century, stimulated the integration of these two mapping traditions: Mercator's world map is one of the earliest fruits of this merger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_1569_world_map

• 1Extant copies and facsimiles
  • 1.1Basel map
  • 1.2Paris map
  • 1.3Breslau map
  • 1.4Rotterdam map
• 2World and regional maps before 1569
• 3Principal features of the 1569 Mercator map
  • 3.1Mercator's projection
  • 3.2Distances and the Organum Directorium
  • 3.3Prime meridian and magnetic pole
  • 3.4Geography
  • 3.5Navigatonal inaccuracy
  • 3.6Decorative features
• 4Texts of the map
  • 4.1Summary of the legends
  • 4.2Legend texts
  • 4.3Minor texts
• 5Bibliography
• 6Further reading
• 7Map bibliography
  • 7.1Atlases and map collections
  • 7.2World maps before 1569
  • 7.3Regional maps before 1569
  • 7.4World maps using the Mercator projection after 1569
• 8Reference

Detail images of the map at https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b7200344k