MERCATOR, GERHARD. Livoniae et Curlandiae descriptio. Amstelodami (Amsterdam), sumptibus Henrici Hondii 1627. Only this copy known.
Engraved map of the Baltics and small parts of Finland and Sweden (with Gotland), figurative title and mileage cartouche with putti together with sailing ships in battle. Printed on double thick paper with blank verso. C. 367x474 mm. (platemark). Strong impression. Centrefold with some spotting to margins, small tear to lower margin of centrefold, 2 repairs to lower margin. Old manuscript title verso written in ink, together with a blue owner's stamp "Graf Galen, Dinklage".

An apparentely unrecorded third state of Mercator's original map of present day Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, first published in the "Atlantis Pars Altera" in 1595. Only this copy known.
The second state bears the imprint of Mercator, but "Amstelodami, sumptibus Henrici Hondii. 1627" is added in the lower right corner. A new title cartouche was engraved, together with a new scale an three ships. The title piece is entirely reengraved, now in typically baroc style with putti replacing the old renaissance design, the new title being "Livoniae et Curlandiae descriptio."

Provenance: Graf Galen; Nils Germundson (1927-2020), with his notes verso.