John Smith Gallery

Ptolemy, Tabulae geographicae...emendatae per Gerardum Mercatorem [D.4.3]

The author of this hugely important work was Gerardus Mercator (1512 – 1594), who created and published a series of famous maps, many of which are contained in this, his first published Atlas. Although earlier Mercator maps depicted the new world and other recently discovered lands, here Mercator’s aim was more humanist in nature: to restore and correct the geographic tables of the ancient philosopher Claudius Ptolemy in accordance with his intentions. For this reason the map of the world on display here omits the Americas, Mercator’s ultimate objective being that the "mind" of the author should be unfettered by the errors of subsequent centuries.