1801 John Cary Large Antique World Map of Mercators Projection - New Holland

Cartographer : John Cary

  • Title : A New Chart of the World on Mercators Projection Exhibiting the Tracks & Discoveries of the Most Eminent Navigators to the Present Period by John Cary Engraver 1801.
  • Ref #:  93408
  • Size: 26 1/2in x 22in (675mm x 560mm)
  • Date : 1801
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This large original hand coloured copper plate engraved antique world map, by John Cary, was engraved in 1801 and published in Carys Magnificent New Universal Atlas
John Carys maps are some of the best published in the late 18th and early 19th century. He is a much overlooked publisher and this map emphasis this point. The map is highly detailed with the most up to date information of the time. The map also illustrates the most important explorations & voyages of the 18th century including Cook, Vancouver, Perouse and Gores.Beautifully hand coloured on very clean, heavy paper with a deep impression denoting an early pressing.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Light and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 26 1/2in x 22in (675mm x 560mm)
Plate size: - 22in x 20in (500mm x 510mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
The Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection presented by Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It became the standard map projection for navigation because of its unique property of representing any course of constant bearing as a straight segment. Such a course, known as a rhumb or, mathematically, a loxodrome, is preferred in marine navigation because ships can sail in a constant compass direction for long stretches, reducing the difficult, error-prone course corrections that otherwise would be needed frequently when sailing other kinds of courses. Linear scale is constant on the Mercator in every direction around any point, thus preserving the angles and the shapes of small objects and fulfilling the conditions of a conformal map projection. As a side effect, the Mercator projection inflates the size of objects away from the equator. This inflation is very small near the equator but accelerates with increasing latitude to become infinite at the poles. So, for example, landmasses such as Greenland and Antarctica appear far larger than they actually are relative to landmasses near the equator, such as Central Africa.

$875.00