Rare Lifetime Edition of Mercator’s atlas

A fine example of the First Issue of the first four parts of Gerard Mercator's atlas, all that was published during the lifetime. The first three parts were first issued in 1585 as ''Tabulae Geographicae", containing: 'Galliae tabule geographicae' (France), 'Belgii Inferioris Geographicae tabule' (Low Countries), and 'Germaniae tabule geographicae' (Germany); the fourth part, 'Italiae, Sclavoniae et Graeciae' (Italy, Balkans and Greece) was published four years later, as this example. The fifth and final part, 'Atlantis Pars Altera', was delayed by a stroke that ended Mercator's productivity in 1589, not appearing until 1595, a year after the great cartographer's death. There are two extra maps appearing in this edition (as called for) attributed to Mercator's son, Rumold: the World (first issue in an atlas) and Europe (a pre-atlas issue without text on the back).