Orbis terrae compendiosa descriptio / quam ex magna universali Gerardi Mercatoris domino Ri... (1587) - Page 1

COMPENDIOUS DESCRIPTION OF THE WORLD

A COMPENDIOUS DESCRIPTION OF THE WORLD
Which, from the Great Universal [map] of Gerard Mercator, Rumoldus Mercator caused to be made in memory of their old friendship and familiarity for Master Richard Garth, a lover and supreme patron of geography and the other fine arts, in the year 1587.

A double-hemisphere world map by Rumoldus Mercator (1587), based on the work of his father Gerard Mercator. The two large circles (Western and Eastern hemispheres) are framed by a vibrant red and white arabesque border. An armillary sphere is positioned at the top center, and an ornate thirty-two-point compass rose is at the bottom center. The map includes colored outlines for continents, including a massive hypothetical southern continent named "Terra Australis."

Old Maps 152.

Western Hemisphere

AMERICA OR NEW INDIA

AMERICA OR NEW INDIA
reduced to this form according to the
imitation of the great universal [map]
of my grandfather, Gerard Mercator.

Kingdom of Anian

Kingdom of Tolm

Quivira

Totonteac

Marata

California

Florida

Antilles

Castilia del Oro

Peru

Maragnon River

Chile

Region of the Patagonians

New Guinea

SOUTHERN LAND

Antarctic Circle

Some call this Southern continent the
Magellanic region after its
discoverer.

Eastern Hemisphere

EUROPE

AFRICA

ASIA

Here is a sea of fresh water, the
extent of which the Canadians say is
unknown according to the accounts of the
people of Saguenay.

Tartary

Persia

Arabia

Ethiopia

Monomotapa

India

China

Greater Java

Lesser Java

SOUTHERN LAND

Antarctic Circle

It is clearly established from the writings
and travels of Marco Polo the Venetian
and Ludovico de Varthema that there are
vast regions here.