Price: £280.00
Title: 'Tab. III Africae'. Engraved in 1578 and printed in 1695. A Ptolemaic map of north Africa by Gerard Mercator (1512-1594). This example of the map is from a 1695 reissue of the Mercator Ptolemy atlas by the Dutch publisher François Halma (1653-1722), who purchased the Mercator plates at auction in 1694. The map itself is left largely unchanged from Mercator's original engraving, but the title cartouche seen below was reengraved for this edition. The map is in overall very good condition as can be ascertained from photos. There are several vertical creases running parallel to centrefold and some additional minor soft creasing is present in centrefold area. Binder's stub is present on verso and its outline shows slightly darker than remainder of map as can be seen in photo. The map also exhibits traces of a few erased pencil underlines of placenames, scarcely noticeable. A strong impression with a distinct platemark, no text on verso. This scarce and decorative map is beautifully hand coloured.