Mercator Atlas - Codex Salamanca

Mercator Atlas

The Universidad de Salamanca was founded in 1134 and is one of the oldest universities in the world. It shelters a splendid 1607 edition of the atlas created by the German scholar Gerhard Mercator, which is one of the most important cartographic manuscripts that was ever produced. It consists of 146 geographically correct and enchantingly-colored double-page maps representing all the known regions of the world.

The Scholar Gerhard Mercator

Gerhard Mercator was a geographer and cartographer, who was already seen as the Ptolemy of his time during his lifetime and was famous as far as the Arab-Islamic world. He was a cosmographer, theologian, and philosopher of great significance in the 16th century and set standards as a typographer. He achieved special significance through his efforts in the field of cartography. He developed an isogonal manner of representation that became known as Mercator Projection and retains great significance for travel by sea and by air to this day.

A Significant Map Series

Mercator’s map series, the first to bear the name “atlas”, can be designated as a historical-cultural achievement. The modern method of depicting the geographic regions of the world substantially contributed to the overcoming of the medieval world view. Mercator gave cartography its mathematical basis. He died in 1494 as a distinguished and wealthy man, numerous statues and monuments pay tribute to his works in his hometown of Duisburg. His amazing world atlas is probably the famous master’s greatest achievement and was published after his death by his son Rumold in 1595, with other editions published in the years to come, including the specimen at hand from 1607.