The Mariner's Mirror

An elaborate architectural title-page engraving. At the top, two scholars or navigators examine a large terrestrial globe. Flanking this central scene are various navigational instruments, including celestial spheres, quadrants with degree scales, and hourglasses. Below the top section, on the left, a figure stands representing a northern pilot, wearing a heavy fur-lined coat and hat, holding a sounding line a weighted rope used to measure the depth of water. On the right, a second pilot is depicted in contemporary 16th-century attire, also holding a lead line. The central title text is housed within a formal monument-like frame. Below this frame, a large three-masted galleon is shown sailing on choppy water inhabited by sea monsters. In the bottom corners, large navigational dividers (calipers) and magnetic compasses rest upon coastal charts.

The Mariner’s Mirror original: "Spiegels der Seefart" of Navigation to the North, that is the Northern original: "Mittnachtigen," literally "midnight," a common 16th-century term for North and Eastern Seas: Namely from the Downs original: "Hoeffeden," referring to the headlands of the English Channel or the foreland of England down to Vyborg and the City of Narva. Collected with great diligence in many sea charts (along with the properly practiced use of the same): By the artful, highly experienced and widely renowned pilot and ship’s navigator Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer of Enkhuizen.

Printed in Amsterdam by Cornelis Claesz original: "Cornelium Claußsohn", bookseller there.

1589. original: M. D. L X X X I X.