Second Latin Edition of the First Miniature Mercator-Hondius Atlas.
A fine example of the 1610 edition of Jodocus Hondius's Atlas Minor, an important and finely executed reduction of the Hondius firm's early cartographic output.
Jodocus Hondius first published this atlas with the backing of Corneliesz Claesz, in Amsterdam, as a sort of intermediate option to the atlases already in production. The Atlas Minor was smaller than the expensive, folio-sized atlases that only a few could afford, however, it was larger and the engraving significantly better than Ortelius's pocket atlas, the Epitome, and Claesz's pocket atlas, the Caert-Thresoor. As such, it occupied an attractive intermediate position as an affordable but finely-executed atlas that quickly gained popularity.
The Atlas Minor was first published in 1607 in Latin, and French and German editions followed shortly thereafter. The 1610 edition was published in Dordrecht by Adrianus Bottius. The book underwent some modest changes in collation until the copperplates for the map were sold to Jan Janszoon of Arnhem in 1621. Shortly thereafter, and before 1625, he resold the plates to some English printers, and they used the maps to illustrate their editions of Purchas his Pilgrimes, an English translation of Mercator's Atlas, and Michael Sparke's Historia Mundi.
The 1610 edition of the Atlas Minor adds text to six of the seven maps which possessed no verso text in the 1607 edition. In addition, it adds a map, the map of the island of Rugen, while removing the map of the Bay of Biscay.
The maps in the atlas are finely engraved and display the tact and tendencies of early 17th-century Dutch cartographers. Among the maps are a world map, a reduction of Mercator's map of the North Pole, and a number of American, African, and Asian maps. This example of the book lacks the final map (Aeneae Troia ni Navigatio) and the dated colophon.
Collation
iv [including title]; 1-682 (of 684).
Maps
- Typus orbis terrarum
- Europa
- Africæ descriptio = Africa
- Asia
- Americae descrip. = America
- Polus Arcticus : cum vicinis regionibus [3 ancillary s: Farre Insulę | Frislant Insula | Scetland Insulæ
- Island = Islandia
- Anglia Scotia et Hibernia = Britannia
- Irlandia
- Udrone
- Ultonia Conatia et Media = Vltonia Connacia & Media
- Vltonia Oriental
- Hiberniæ v. tabula
- Scotia
- Scotiae tabula II = Scotiæ II tabula
- Scotiæ tabula III = Scotiæ III tabula
- Anglia
- Northumbr. Cumberlādia Dunelm. Episcop. = Angliæ II tabula
- Westmorland, Castria, Cestria etc = Angliæ III tabula
- Cambria sive Wallia
- Cornub. Devonia, Somerset etc. = Angliæ IIII tabula
- Eboracum Lincolnia Derbia, Stafford, etc = Angliæ V tabula
- Warwicum Northampton, Huntingdon Cantabr etc. = Angliæ VI tabula
- Anglesey, Ins. [with] Wight ol. Vectis [with] Ins. Garnesey [with] Ins. Iarsey = Angliæ VII tabula
- Svecia, et Norwegia etc = Norwegia & Svecia
- Daniæ Regnū.
- Iutia Septentrionalis = Daniæ II tabula
- Holsatia = Daniæ III tabula
- Fionia = Daniæ IV tabula
- Prussia = Borussia sive Prussia
- Livonia = Livonia, sive Liefland
- Russia cum confiniis = Russia sive Moscovia
- Moscovia
- Lithuania
- Transsylvania
- Taurica Chersonesus
- Hispania
- Portugallia olim Lusitania = Portugallia
- Biscaia et Legio = Piscaia
- Castilia vetus et nova = Castilia
- Andaluzia
- Regni Valentiæ typus = Valentia
- Arragonia et Catalonia = Aragonia & Catalonia
- Gallia
- Britānia et Normãdia cum consiniis = Britannia & Normannia
- Aquitania
- Provincia
- Picardia
- L'Isle de Frãce Parisiensis Ager = Francia
- Bolonia
- Aniou = Andegavensis Ducatus
- Berry = Bituricensis Ducatus
- Poictou = Pictaviensis Comitatus
- Lotharingia Meridiona = Lotaringia Septentr. [Pasted over]
- Lotharingia = Lotaringia Meridiona
- Burgundiae duca. = Burgundiæ ducatus
- Burgundia comitatus = Burgundiæ Comitatus
- Lyonnois Forest et Beaujolois = Lugdunensis tractus
- Helvetia
- Zurichou = Zurichgovia
- Das Wiflispurgergou = Wiflispurgergovia
- Lacus Lemānus = Lacus Lemannus
- Argou = Argovia
- Inferior Germania = Germania Inferior
- Flandria
- Brabantia
- Hollandia
- Zeelandia = Zelandia
- Geldria et Transylvana = Gelria
- Artesia
- Hãnonia = Hannonia
- Trier et Lutzēborg. = Lutzenburgum
- Germania
- Frisia occidenta = Frisia Occidentalis
- Emden et Oldenbor = Embden & Oldenborch
- Wesphalia cum Diæcesi Bremensi = Westphalia
- Westphaliæ tabula II. = Westphaliæ II tabula
- Westphaliæ tabula tertia = Westphaliæ III tabula
- Cleve et Murs = Clivia
- Leodiensis Dioec.
- Waldek comit.
- Palatinatus Rheni = Palatinat Rheni
- Wirtenberg = Wirtemberg
- Aslatia Inferior
- Alsatia Superior
- Saxonia Inferior et Mekleburg = Saxonia Inferior
- Braũswik et Meydburg cum consiniis = Brunswyck
- Hassia Landgraviatus = Hassia
- Thuringia
- Franckenland = Franconia
- Bavaria
- Palatinat. Bavariæ
- Saxoniæ Superioris Lusatiæ, Misniæq. des. = Saxonia Superior
- Brandeburg et Pomerania = Brandeburg
- Rugia / Iodocus Hondius iunior fecit
- Bohemia
- Moravia
- Austria archiduc. = Austria
- Saltzburg Carinthia = Saltzburg
- Polonia et Silesia = Polonia
- Hungaria
- Italia
- Lombardiæ alpestris pars occidentalis cū Valesia = Lombardiæ
- Tarvisina Marchia et Tirolis comitatus = Tirolensis
- Pedemontana Regio, cum Genuensium territorio et Montifferrati Marchionatu = Pedemontium
- Romandiola cum D. Parmensi = Romandiola
- Brescia Episcopatus Mediolanũ ducatus = Brixiensis Comitatus
- Veronæ Vicentiae et Pataviæ Dit. = Veronæ
- Forum Iulium Karstia Carniola, Histria etc. = Forum IVLII
- Tuscia
- Marcha Anconitana cum Spoletano ducatu = Anconitana Marchia
- Latium nunc Campagna di Roma = Latium
- Abruzzo et Terra di Lovoro = Abruzzo
- Puglia Piana, Terra di Barri Otrāto etc = Puglia Piana
- Corsica [with] Sardinia
- Sicilia
- Stiria
- Slavonia Croatia Bosnia, Dalmat. = Sclavonia
- Walachia Servia, Bulgaria, Roman = Walachia
- Græcia
- Macedonia, Epir. et Achaia = Macedonia
- Morea
- Candia [5 ancillary s: I Corfu | Zante | Milo | Nicsia | Scarpanto]
- Barbaria [2 ancillary s: Cartaginensis Sinus | Aegyptus]
- Ægpytus = Ægytus
- Marocchi Regnum = Marocci Regnum
- Fessae Regnum = Fessæ Regnum
- Abissinorum Regnũ = Abissiorum Regnum
- Congi Regnũ = Congi Regnum
- Guinea [inset : I. S. Thomæ]
- Turcicum Imperium
- Tabula Cananææ prout tempore Christi et Apostolorum divisa suit = Terra Sancta
- Natolia = Asia Minor
- Cyprus = Cyprus Insula [6 ancillary s: Stalimini | Chius | Mitilene | Negroponte | Cerigo | Rhodus]
- Persicum Regnum
- Tartaria
- China = Regnum Chinæ
- India orientalis
- Insulæ Indiae orientalis = Moluccæ
- Iapan I. = Iaponia
- Ceilan insula = Zeilan Insula
- Hispania Nova
- Virgina et Florida = Virginia & Florida
- Cuba Insula = Cuba [with] Havana Portus [with] I. Iamaica [with] I. S. Ioannis [with] I. Margareta. [with] Hispaniola
- America Meridionalis
- Fretum Magellani = Fretum Magellanicum
- Paradisus = Topographia Paradisi
- Peregrinatio Israelitarũ in deserto = Peregrinatio Israelitarum in deserto
- Designatio Orbis Christiani
- Peregrinatio Pauli: In qua et omnia loca quorum sit mentio in actis et epistolis Apostolorium et Apocalypsi, describuntur = Peregrinatio Pauli
- Romani Imperii Imago
- Alexandri Magni expeditio [inset : Asia]
Jodocus Hondius the Elder (1563-1612), or Joost de Hondt, was one of the most prominent geographers and engravers of his time. His work did much to establish Amsterdam as the center of cartographic publishing in the seventeenth century. Born in Wakken but raised in Ghent, the young Jodocus worked as an engraver, instrument maker, and globe maker.
Hondius moved to London in 1584, fleeing religious persecution in Flanders. There, he worked for Richard Hakluyt and Edward Wright, among others. Hondius also engraved the globe gores for Emery Molyneux’s pair of globes in 1592; Wright plotted the coastlines. His engraving and nautical painting skills introduced him to an elite group of geographic knowledge seekers and producers, including the navigators Drake, Thomas Cavendish, and Walter Raleigh, as well as engravers like Theodor De Bry and Augustine Ryther. This network gave Hondius access to manuscript charts and descriptions which he then translated into engraved maps.
In 1593 Hondius returned to Amsterdam, where he lived for the rest of his life. Hondius worked in partnership with Cornelis Claesz, a publisher, and maintained his ties to contacts in Europe and England. For example, from 1605 to 1610, Hondius engraved the plates for John Speed’s Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine.
One of Hondius’ most successful commercial ventures was the reprinting of Mercator’s atlas. When he acquired the Mercator plates, he added 36 maps, many engraved by him, and released the atlas under Mercator’s name, helping to solidify Mercator’s reputation posthumously. Hondius died in 1612, at only 48 years of age, after which time his son of the same name and another son, Henricus, took over the business, including the reissuing of the Mercator atlas. After 1633, Hondius the Elder’s son-in-law, Johannes Janssonius, was also listed as a co-publisher for the atlas.