This matching set of maps comes 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. 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. Most of these maps were copied from Cloppenburg's edition of Atlas Minor and are therefore a bit larger, with some signed by the engravers Jacob van Langren and Ralph Hall. These additional maps only appeared in the 1635, 1637 and 1639 editions of the Historia Mundi and are therefore quite scarce. Included in this lot are four maps of northwestern France within the regions of Brittany, Lower Normandy, Upper Normandy, and Pays de la Loire, including one of the newly engraved maps, Perchensis Comitatus la Perche Comte. Each map is adorned with a decorative title cartouche and a distance scale. English text on verso. Sizes vary slightly.

A. Britania et Normadia cum Confinijs. Follows the coastline of France from Dieppe in the north to La Rochelle in the south, and east as far as Paris.
B. Poictou. Shows the coastline from Nantes to La Rochelle, and east as far as Limoges.
C. Aniou. Angiers is left of center, with Poictiers at bottom right.
D. Perchensis Comitatus la Perche Comte. The map is bounded by Le Mans in the west, Chartres in the east, and the Loire River in the south.

References: Van der Krogt (Vol. III) #4001:351, 4500:351, 4440:351, & 4365:351 (Sparke).

Condition: A

Nice impression with light toning along the edges of the sheet and some small chips and tears also along the edges.