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M-10897: (Image: 14 ½ x 18’’)“AMERICA sive INDIA NOVA ad magnae Gerardi Mercatoris...” Gerard Mercator.  Amsterdam:  Michael Mercator, c. [1595] - 1609. Beautifully engraved map with original hand-coloring.  Verso text French.  (Ref: Illustrated:  Goss: Mapping of North America, Map 19; Goss: The Map Makers Art, pl. 4.9, Burden #87).

One of the most highly sought-after early depictions of the New World!  Based on the 1569 great world map by Gerard Mercator and the only known map attributed to Michael Mercator.

Notable features include the shapes of both the north and south continents which are quite exaggerated - particularly the famous incorrect bulge in South America; the southern half of the sphere is dominated by the large unknown land called “Terra Australis”; the North Pole is shown as a group of islands with a discernible mythical northwest passage. The four roundels surrounding the central hemisphere contain maps of the western shores of the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba and Southern Florida, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico and the map’s title.