notes Mercator 1595

	Research Notes Map Group MERCATOR 1595

Mercator 1595
	Map, Warwicum Northamptonia Huntingdonia ... etc, part of Angleterre, England, including Hampshire, by Gerhard Mercator 1595; published in part 3 of 'Atlas sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et fabricati figura' 1595-1642.
	The map shows - Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Huntingdon, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent, Isle of Wight
	Mercator's Atlas was published in 3 parts, 1585, 1590 and 1595; the last posthumously as Mercator died 1594. Jodocus Hondius bought Mercator's plates and, adding plates of his own, published the Atlas from 1606-42 with text in Latin, French, Dutch, German, Flemish, English.The map studied is probably from an edition of Mercator's Atlas with text in French published by Hondius, about 1630. The item is in the Map Collection of Hampshire CC Museum Service, item HMCMS:FA2000.6

	MAP FEATURES - SOUTH-EAST ENGLAND
	MAP FEATURES - HAMPSHIRE
	MERCATOR
	ITEMS in the Collection
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MAP FEATURES	- SOUTH-EAST ENGLAND
title title cartouche	Printed at the top:- ANGLETERRE Printed in a title cartouche, middle right:- Warwicum / Northamptonia / HUNTINGDONIA CA: / NTABRIGIA, SUFFOL: / CIA, OXONIUM, BUCK: / INGHAMIA, BEDFORdia / Hartfordia, Essexia / BERCERI MIDELSE: / XIA, SOUTHHA~TONIA / Surria, Cantium / Southsexia The top of the cartouche is decorated with a ?bat.
orientation labelled borders	The map has labelled borders:- SEPTENTRIO / ORIENS / MERIDIES / OCCIDENS
lat and long scales	There are latitude and longitude scales in all four borders; chequered at 2 minute intervals, labelled at degrees. The origin of these scales appears to be about 20d51m W of Greenwich, ie the longitude scale on the sheet runs from about 18 to 24 degrees. Mercator's prime meridian is in the Azores, west of Africa. It was later that the Greenwich meridian was accepted internationally.
scale scale lines	The map has two scale lines:- Miliaria Anglica magna chequered at 2 mile intervals, 22 miles = 29.2mm is 1 to 1212519 assuming a statute mile, ie about:- 1 to 1200000 and:- parva chequered at 1 mile intervals, 20 miles = 24.1mm is 1 to 1335555, ie about:- 1 to 1300000 making the same bad assumption. The map scale is about:- 20 miles to 1 inch Using the latitude scale, 2 degrees latitude = 129.6mm is 1 to 1731985, about:- 1 to 1700000 27 miles to 1 inch
sea area sea moire effect sandbanks	The sea is engraved with a moire effect. A sandbank is shown as a dotted area off the east coast of Kent. The sea between England and France is:- OCEANUS BRITANNICIUS and either the sea area, or the nearby headland, is labelled:- The Beache off Beachy Head.
coast line coast shaded harbours	The coast line is shaded. A few harbours are labelled, eg:- Rye haven Orford haven and at least one headland:- ye Nesse pointe off Sussex.
rivers bridges	Rivers are drawn by wiggly lines; a double line with some shading at the mouth, tapering to a single line inland. Rivers are mostly not named, but see:- Tamessis flu A number of bridges are clearly shown by double line across a river. For example across the Thames in London; here perhaps meaning there is/are crossing/s rather than meaning there is one bridge? There are more bridges on the Thames; Staines, Feltenham, Henley. And some in Hampshire, eg:- at Ringwood.
relief hillocks	A few little hillocks are drawn to suggest relief, fitted in between place names. They are not very helpfull? There is a range of hills representing the South Downs, and another the Berkshire Downs north of the Kennet, etc.
woods	A very few trees symbols suggest woods. These are so crowded out by other features that it is difficult to see that they mean much at all.
country	The country is named by the page title:- Angleterre on this French edition. The south east corner is shown, top left is about Birmingham. A corner of France is shown, labelled:- GALLIAE PARS This is in Latin as are county names on the map. (The French page title is outwith the map.)
county	The county boundaries are dotted lines. Where these run along a river the river and boundary are drawn side by side. Counties are labelled in Latin, eg:- SOUTH SEXIA SOUTHAMPTONIA
settlements	Settlements are positioned by a dot and circle, and all labelled in lowercase italic. Towns ahve a tower and/or buildings added to the dot and circle. Some circles appear to have a cryptic line attached, as used by other map makers in these early times to distinguish one sort of little settlement from another. Do not be mislead; I think they are pointers attaching the label to the circle, for example see Haling on Hayling Island. In other places the tail of the last letter of the label might be extended to attach it to its circle, for example Hurseborn in north Hampshire.
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MAP FEATURES	- HAMPSHIRE
	Extra notes for Hampshire
county	The Hampshire Dorset boundary is missing (perhaps this shifting boundary confused the map maker). The county is labelled:- SOUTH: / AMTONIA The title cartouche has 2 Hs.
rivers bridges	The main river systems are drawn:- Stour Avon Test Itchen Meon Rother Blackwater, Loddon Enborne each with tributary streams. None are labelled. Bridges can be seen at:- Christchurh (2 over Stour and Avon) Iford (Stour) Ringwood (Avon) ? (near Stoneham, Itchen) Winchester (Itchen) Fareham ( )
relief	A group of hillocks continues the South Downs into Hampshire from the east. Magdalen Down (?) east of Winchester is suggested by another group.
woods forests	There is 1 tree symbol in Hampshire; it is not near any of the old forests.
settlements	The places named, t for town, v for village, are:- Aberston [v] Alresford [t] Andover [t] Aulton [t] Basynstoke [t] Bishops Waltha~ [t/v (2 symbols)] Blackwater [v] Calshot ca [castle] Christchurch [t] Eling [v] Estrmyl [v (where?)] Exburie [v] Faran [t] Fullington [v (Bullington)] Haling [v] Havant [t] Hurseborn [v] Kingeselere [t] Leminton [t] Newton [v (where?)] Odiam [t] Overto [v] Porthmouth Ringswood [t] Rumsei [v] S. Andros ca [castle] Southamton [t] Southwick [t] Stokbridge [t] Winchester [t] [unamed] [Hurst castle]
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	Gerardus Mercator, latinised from Gerhard Kremer, kremer is shopkepper - mercator is merchant, was a german/flemish geographer, born 5 March 1512. His parents were german, recently moved to Rupelmonde, Flanders. He was a student and then a lecturer at Louvain University, and set up in business there as cartographer and instrument maker in 1534, publishing maps from 1537. From 1552 he was professor of cosmography at the university of Duisburg, escaping religious intolerance at Louvain; and at Duisburg he did his best work. He introduced the projection now known as the mercator projection, first used in a world map in 18 sheets published 1569. He published a world atlas from 1585 which included a smaller world map, 1587, by his son Rumold. Gerard Mercator was first to use the name 'atlas' for a book of maps, naming it for the figure of Atlas bearing the earth. He published 2 parts of a new atlas in the year he died, 1594; it was completed by Rumold in 1595.
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ITEMS	in HMCMS Map Collection (scanned item in bold)
	HMCMS:FA2000.6 -- map
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