Mercator Atlas - Codex Berlin

Mercator Atlas - Codex Berlin

Our modern term atlas, that denotes a bound book of collected maps, goes back to a work by the Renaissance man Gerhard Mercator. The Mercator Atlas, which is considered to be the cornerstone of the science of topography, was produced in 1595 and was one of the most influential works of its kind as well as being a template for all subsequent cartography. 107 detailed and geographically correct maps are to be found in brilliant black and white copper engravings, that were, for the most part, to be colored in later by the wealthy buyer.

Gerhard Mercator was Ahead of His Time

Gerhard Mercator was responsible for the creation of the atlas. Maractor was born on March 5, 1512 near Antwerp in what is today Belgium and was educated by the famous Flemish scientists of the time, including Löwener Goldschmied, Gaspard van Heyden, and the natural scientist Gemma Frisius. After he was charged with heresy in his hometown, he decided to settle with his family in the tolerant and modern city of Duisburg in 1522. There he lived and worked as a renowned scientist until his death in 1594 and conducted correspondence with numerous other humanists and scholars, through which he was able to gather important topographical insights for his own work.

A Master and His Many Talents

Meractor’s life was imprinted with the spirit of the Renaissance, he was a true Renaissance man, whose purpose was to explain the processes of our world with the help of the sciences. He composed scientific writings from the fields of mathematics, philosophy, history, and theology. He was also active as more practical artisan, for example, he produced copper engravings, globes, and surveying instruments. He is personally responsible for most of the copper engravings in his atlas. His greatest achievement was the invention of the Mercator projection, which in 1569 recorded for the first time the world on a 21 page wall map. This first equiangular and geographically precise depiction of the Earth, which broke with clerical ideas and superstitions, served the famous navigators and travelers of their time. Francis Drake, the famous pirate who sailed in service of the English crown, navigated by Mercator’s maps. Even today his topography has not lost its influence, for example, his projections are held to be templates for our modern satellite navigation.

Science and Art, Masterfully Combined

The Mercator Atlas is not only known for its precision and its systematic correctness, it also stands out because of its artistry and beauty. Information and aesthetic are excellently combined with one another in this work. For the first time, Mercator employed Italian cursive script for his work, he designed his watercolors with ships and fish and recorded the map titles in graceful, nearly three dimensional handwriting. There is little doubt that here he had an incomparable artwork of geographic science.