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Mercator 1569 world map

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Mercator Projection | World Map

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Authagraph World Map turns the Earth into a rectangle using tetrahedrons

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Mercator Projection

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Mercator projection

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Did You Know The True Maps That No One Shows! Most Underrated Gerardus Mercator Cartography...

The Mercator world map of 1569 is titled Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigantium Emendate Accommodata. The title shows that Gerardus Mercator aimed to present contemporary knowledge of the geography of the world and at the same time 'correct' the chart to be more useful to sailors. This 'correction', whereby constant bearing sailing courses on the sphere are mapped to straight lines on the plane map, characterizes the Mercator projection. While the map's geography has been superseded by modern knowledge, its projection proved to be one of the most significant advances in the history of cartography, inspiring map historian Nordenskiöld to write "The master of Rupelmonde stands unsurpassed in the history of cartography since the time of Ptolemy." The projection heralded a new era in the evolution of navigation maps and charts and it is still their basis.
    • Extant copies and facsimiles 

    • Principal features of the 1569 Mercator map 

    • Texts of the map 

    • Map bibliography