This
beautifully hand coloured original antique map
of the Lot or Quercy region of southern France -
centering on the city of Cahors on the River Lot - by Gerard
Mercator was published by Joducus
Hondius in the 1628 Franch edition of Mercators Atlas.
Quercy
is a former province of France located in the country's
southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west
by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and
Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auvergne.
Today it is divided between the department of Lot (which
it makes up in its entirety) and the northern half of
the department of Tarn-et-Garonne. The traditional
capital of Quercy is Cahors, now préfecture
(capital) of the Lot département.
Jodocus
Hondius (1563 - 1612), one of the most notable
engravers of his time, is known for his work in
association with many of the cartographers and
publishers prominent at the end of the sixteenth and the
beginning of the seventeenth century.
In 1604
Hondius bought the plates of Mercator's Atlas which, in
spite of its excellence, had not competed successfully
with the continuing demand of Abraham Ortelius's
Theatrum Orbis
Terrarum.
To meet this competition Hondius added about 40 maps to
Mercator's original number and from 1606 published
enlarged editions in many languages, still under
Mercator's name but with his own name as publisher.
These atlases have become known as the Mercator/Hondius
series. The following year the maps were re-engraved in
miniature form and issued as a pocket
Atlas Minor.
After the death of Jodocus Hondius the Elder in 1612,
work on the two atlases, folio and miniature, was
carried on by his widow and sons, Jodocus II and
Henricus, and eventually in conjunction with Jan Jansson
in Amsterdam. In all, from 1606 onwards, nearly 50
editions with increasing numbers of maps with texts in
the main European languages were printed.
(Ref: Koeman; M&B; Tooley)
Condition Report:
Paper
thickness and quality: - Heavy & stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, pink, green
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 21 1/2in x 17 1/2in (490mm x 340mm)
Plate size: - 20in x 15in (510mm x 380mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (15mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Uniform age toning
Plate area: - Uniform age toning
Verso: - Uniform age toning
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