Mercator Prints His First World Map

1539

A young Flemish cartographer named Gerardus Mercator published a double-hemisphere world map based on the most recent Iberian voyages. He was still twenty years away from inventing the projection that would bear his name, but the map already sold well to merchants, admirals, and curious gentlemen. His meticulous lettering style became the standard for cartographic typography and influenced map aesthetics for two centuries.