A 16th century map of Africa

An important map of Africa, reduced from Gerard Mercator's four-sheet map of the continent of 1569, by his grandson, Gerard Mercator II. Although the delineation of the coasts of Africa is one of the best of the 16th century, most of the interior is still conjectural, exemplified by the little figure of the mythical king Prester John in Abyssinia. The title and scale are within a superb strapwork cartouche featuring satyrs. This map first appeared in the 'Atlantis Pars Altera', the third volume of Gerard Mercator's atlas, only published after his death in 1594. Only one more edition was issued before the family sold the copperplates to Jodocus Hondius in 1604, whose family continued to published this map until 1633, unchanged.