This matching pair of maps depicting the islands in the Caribbean is from the English edition of Mercator's Atlas Minor, which was published under the title Historia Mundi or Mercators Atlas by Michael Spark and Samuel Cartwright. Included are a scarce map of the West Indies and a map of individual islands in the Greater Antilles. After acquiring the plates to the 1607 edition of the Mercator/Hondius Atlas Minor, Sparke republished the maps with text translated into English by Wye Saltonstall. Sparke also had 41 additional maps engraved for the Historia Mundi, including the map of the Caribbean in this lot, The Ylandes of the West Indies. Most of these maps were copied from Cloppenburg's edition of Atlas Minor and are therefore a bit larger, and some were signed by the engravers Jacob van Langren and Ralph Hall. The imprint of Sparke is at bottom right on the West Indies map. These additional maps only appeared in the 1635, 1637 and 1639 editions of the Historia Mundi and are therefore quite scarce. English text on verso. Sizes vary slightly.

References: Van der Krogt (Vol. III) #9600:351 (Sparke) & 9610:351.

Condition:

Both are nice impressions with light toning along the edges of the sheet. The Greater Antilles map is in near fine condition (A). The West Indies map is in good condition (B) with a portion of the top edge of the map missing due to how the map was printed on the page and then trimmed by the bookbinder. There is also a tiny chip along the top edge of the map.