The Mercators' 1587 Orbis Terrae Compendiosa Descriptio is a re-working of Gerard Mercator's monumental 1569 World Map by his son and successor, Rumold. Here, the map is transformed to the double hemisphere format in which it appeared in the profoundly influential 1595 Mercator Atlas.

Mercator's revisualization of the wider world that was discovered, voyage by voyage, during the 16th century contradicted Europeans' long-held beliefs of their place in the world. Against a backdrop of profound questions about the natural order of things, the Pope created the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Prohibited Books) in 1559 and in the early 17th century added the atlas and this map to the list of banned publications.

The map's engraving is clear and beautiful; the sea names are lettered with cursive flourishes; the hemispheres are bounded by fine strapwork borders. Magellan's ship is depicted near Patagonia; a fanciful sea monster emerges above Australia. An intricately rendered armillary sphere appears between the hemispheres at the top margin; an elaborate compass rose appears near the bottom margin.

Our Perfect Recreation™ captures every fine line and accurately expresses the vibrant colors of this superb example of the map that introduced the wider world to Mercator's Projection.