NO RESERVE

"[Lot of 5] L'Isle de France Parisiensis Ager [and] Champagne Comitatus Campania [and] Borbonium Ducatus [and] Totius Lemouiciet [and] Biturigum Ducatus", Mercator/Hondius

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 five maps of central France, including four of the newly engraved maps. Each map is adorned with a decorative title cartouche and a distance scale. English text on verso. Sizes vary slightly.

A. L'Isle de France Parisiensis Ager. Shows the region north of Paris, with Paris at bottom center.
B. Champagne Comitatus Campania. Shows the Champagne region, and is densely engraved with towns.
C. Borbonium Ducatus. Shows the region just south of Nevers, bounded by the Cher River in the west and the Loire River in the east.
D. Totius Lemouiciet. Centered approximately on Limoges.
E. Biturigum Ducatus. Centered on Chateauroux, with Romorantin in the north, Limosin in the south, and Lille at bottom left.

References: Van der Krogt (Vol. III) #4200:351 (Sparke), #4300:351, #4360:351 (Sparke), #4560:351 (Sparke), #4850:351 (Sparke).

Condition: A

Nice impressions with light toning along the edges of the sheets and some small chips and tears also along the edges. The map of Champagne has small loss of the border at bottom right and top right due to the plate not being centered properly on the sheet during the printing process.