Decorative Ptolemaic map of Northern Africa with the southern part of Sardinia and Sicily and Malta. The sea is stipple engraved and contains two very fanciful sea monsters. At the lower border are a lion and a leopard with a decorative title cartouche completing the composition. Although Mercator is most renowned today for the projection he popularized and for first using the term Atlas for a collection of maps, he devoted much of his life to his Ptolemaic maps. The maps were beautifully engraved as nearly as possible to their original form and are the most decorative of Ptolemaic maps.

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Condition: B

Fine impression with just a bit of uneven toning and a few tiny spots. Short separation on centerfold, well away from map.