Close

Search Inventory

Maps
Prints
Keyword
Sort
Categories
Year range
-
Purchase options
Width range
Height range
Submit
The Map House company logo
The Map House
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Maps
  • Prints
  • Globes
  • New In
  • Resources
  • Events
  • News
  • Contact
Cart
0 items £
Checkout

Item added to cart

View cart & checkout
Continue shopping
Wishlist
0

This item has been saved to your enquiry list

You can either review your list and make an enquiry, or continue to browse and find other artworks.
View list
Continue browsing
Menu
Maps
Our entire inventory of over 10,000 antique and vintage maps is now available to browse by region, date, cartographer, and subject

World Maps

  • All
  • AFRICA
  • ▪ Central Africa
    • Angola
    • Cameroon & Gabon
    • Chad
    • Congo
  • ▪ East Africa
    • Ethiopia, Eritrea & Djibouti
    • Kenya
    • Somalia
    • Sudan
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda, Rwanda & Burundi
  • ▪ North Africa
    • Algeria
    • Egypt
    • Libya
    • Morocco
    • Tunisia
  • ▪ Southern Africa
    • Botswana
    • Madagascar
    • Malawi
    • Mozambique
    • Namibia
    • South Africa
    • Zambia & Zimbabwe
  • ▪ West Africa
    • Cote d'Ivoire
    • Ghana, Benin & Togo
    • Liberia
    • Mali, Niger & Burkina Faso
    • Nigeria
    • Senegal, Gambia & Guinea
    • Sierra Leone
  • ▪ Atlantic Islands
  • AMERICAS
    • Atlantic Ocean
    • Pacific Ocean
  • ▪ United States (USA)
    • USA - East
    • USA - Midwest
    • USA - Northeast
    • USA - Southeast
    • USA - West & Southwest
    • Alabama
    • Alaska
    • Arizona
    • Arkansas
    • California
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Hawaii
    • Idaho
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Kentucky
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Maryland
    • Massachusetts
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Mississippi
    • Missouri
    • Montana
    • Nebraska
    • Nevada
    • New Hampshire
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • New York City
    • North Carolina
    • North Dakota
    • Ohio
    • Oklahoma
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania
    • Rhode Island
    • South Carolina
    • South Dakota
    • Tennessee
    • Texas
    • Utah
    • Vermont
    • Virginia
    • Washington
    • Washington, D.C.
    • West Virginia
    • Wisconsin
    • Wyoming
  • ▪ North America
    • Canada
    • Newfoundland & the Maritimes
    • Northern Canada
    • Ontario & Quebec
    • Western Canada
    • Mexico
    • Central America
  • ▪ South America
    • Argentina
    • Bolivia
    • Brazil
    • Chile
    • Colombia
    • Ecuador
    • Falkland Islands
    • Guianas
    • Paraguay
    • Patagonia
    • Peru
    • Uruguay
    • Venezuela
  • ▪ Caribbean
    • Antigua & Barbuda
    • Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao
    • Bahamas
    • Barbados
    • Bermuda
    • Cayman Islands
    • Cuba
    • Dominica
    • Grenada
    • Guadeloupe
    • Haiti & Dominican Rep.
    • Jamaica
    • Martinique
    • Puerto Rico
    • St Kitts & Nevis
    • St Lucia
    • St Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Trinidad & Tobago
    • Turks & Caicos
    • Virgin Islands
  • ASIA
    • Central Asia & Siberia
  • ▪ East Asia
    • China
    • China Regional
    • Beijing
    • Shanghai
    • Hong Kong
    • Tibet
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Taiwan
  • ▪ Southeast Asia
    • Burma / Myanmar
    • Cambodia, Laos & Vietnam
    • Indonesia & Borneo
    • Malaysia
    • Philippines
    • Singapore
    • Thailand
  • ▪ India & South Asia
    • Afghanistan
    • India
    • India Cities
    • India Regional
    • Indian Ocean & Islands
    • Nepal, Bhutan & Himalayas
    • Pakistan
    • Punjab & Sikh Empire
    • Sri Lanka / Ceylon
  • ▪ Middle East & Turkey
    • Arabia
    • Saudi & Gulf States
    • Iran / Persia
    • Iraq / Mesopotamia
    • Jerusalem
    • Levant / Holy Land
    • Oman & Yemen
    • Turkey
    • Istanbul / Constantinople
  • BRITISH ISLES
    • British Sea Charts
    • British Geological Maps
    • Channel Islands
    • Isle of Man
  • ▪ London
    • Underground & Transport
    • Central London & The City
    • East London
    • North & Northwest London
    • Southeast London
    • West & Southwest London
  • ▪ England
    • English Cities
    • Bedfordshire
    • Berkshire
    • Buckinghamshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Cheshire
    • Cornwall
    • Cumbria
    • Derbyshire
    • Devon
    • Dorset
    • Durham
    • Essex
    • Gloucestershire
    • Hampshire
    • Herefordshire
    • Hertfordshire
    • Huntingdonshire
    • Isle of Wight
    • Kent
    • Lancashire
    • Leicestershire
    • Lincolnshire
    • Middlesex
    • Norfolk
    • Northamptonshire
    • Northumberland
    • Nottinghamshire
    • Oxfordshire
    • Rutland
    • Shropshire
    • Somerset
    • Staffordshire
    • Suffolk
    • Surrey
    • Sussex
    • Warwickshire
    • Wiltshire
    • Worcestershire
    • Yorkshire
    • Yorkshire East Riding
    • Yorkshire North Riding
    • Yorkshire West Riding
  • ▪ Ireland
    • Dublin
    • N. Ireland / Ulster
    • Rep. of Ireland Counties
    • Rep. of Ireland Cities
  • ▪ Scotland
    • Edinburgh
    • Glasgow
    • Scotland Regional
    • Shetland, Orkney & Hebrides
  • ▪ Wales
    • North Wales
    • South Wales
    • Anglesey
    • Breconshire
    • Cardiganshire
    • Carmarthenshire
    • Caernarfonshire
    • Denbighshire
    • Flintshire
    • Cardiff & Glamorgan
    • Merionethshire
    • Monmouthshire
    • Montgomeryshire
    • Pembrokeshire
    • Radnorshire
  • EUROPE
  • ▪ Austria & Switzerland
    • Austria
    • Switzerland
    • Switzerland - Cities
    • The Alps
  • ▪ Benelux Region
    • Belgium
    • Luxembourg
    • Netherlands
    • Netherlands - Cities
  • ▪ Central & Eastern Europe
    • Balkans
    • Belarus
    • Bulgaria
    • Croatia
    • Czech Rep. & Slovakia
    • Hungary
    • Poland
    • Romania & Transylvania
  • ▪ France & Monaco
    • France
    • Paris
    • French Wine Maps
    • French Cities
    • French Regions
    • Provence & Cote d'Azur
    • Monaco
  • ▪ Germany
    • German Cities
    • German Regions
    • Prussia
  • ▪ Greece
    • Greek Islands
  • ▪ Italy
    • Italian Cities
    • Northern Italy
    • Tuscany & Central Italy
    • Southern Italy & Sicily
  • ▪ Mediterranean Sea
    • Corsica
    • Cyprus
    • Elba
    • Malta
    • Sardinia
  • ▪ Spain & Portugal
    • Spain
    • Spain - Regional
    • Spain - Cities
    • Balearic Islands
    • Gibraltar
    • Portugal
  • ▪ Scandinavia & Baltics
    • Baltic States
    • Denmark
    • Finland
    • Iceland & Greenland
    • Norway
    • Sweden
  • ▪ Russia, Ukraine & Caucasus
    • Russia
    • Asiatic Russia / Siberia
    • European Russia
    • Russian Cities
    • Caucasus & Caspian Sea
    • Ukraine, Black Sea & Crimea
  • OCEANIA
  • ▪ Australia
    • Sydney
    • New South Wales
    • Northern Territory
    • Queensland
    • South Australia
    • Tasmania
    • Victoria
    • Western Australia
  • ▪ New Zealand
  • ▪ Pacific Ocean & Islands
  • ▪ Papua New Guinea
  • POLAR
    • Antarctica
    • The Arctic
    • Polar World Maps
  • CELESTIAL
    • Celestial Maps
    • The Moon & Planets
  • WORLD
    • World Maps
    • Thematic World Maps
    • World & Continent Sets
    • Title Pages
    • Portolan Charts
  • GLOBES & INSTRUMENTS
    • Terrestrial Globes
    • Celestial & Moon Globes
    • Pairs of Globes
    • Scientific Instruments
  • THEMATIC
    • Island of California
    • Commodities & Trade
    • Noted Explorers
    • Geological
    • Historical
    • Infographics
    • Oceanography
    • Pictorial
    • Posters
    • Sea Charts
    • Space Age
    • Republic of Texas
    • Transport
    • War Maps
  • COLLABORATIONS
    • Adam Dant
    • Kristjana S. Williams
    • Justine Smith
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Paulus Merula, Totius Orbis Cogniti Universalis Descriptio, 1605

Paulus Merula

Totius Orbis Cogniti Universalis Descriptio, 1605
12 x 20 in
30 x 51 cm
WLD2978
Save
Remove
Enquire
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EPaulus%20Merula%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ETotius%20Orbis%20Cogniti%20Universalis%20Descriptio%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E1605%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E12%20x%2020%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A30%20x%2051%20cm%3C/div%3E
View on a Wall
Paulus Merula was a noted scholar in Leiden. He was the chief librarian of the University Library of Leiden and also studied history, geography, the law and classics. He published...
View full details
Paulus Merula was a noted scholar in Leiden. He was the chief librarian of the University Library of Leiden and also studied history, geography, the law and classics. He published several books, including a widely admired history of Holland. In 1605, two years before his death, he issued his "Cosmographia Generalis" a geographical work in three volumes with particular emphasis on France, Spain and Italy.

Bound in this volume is a map of the world engraved by Jan van Doetecum, one of the finest engravers working in Holland at the time. The map is largely based on a map issued in a Bible by Dutch master cartographer, Petrus Plancius, in 1590. Plancius himself based on much of his geography on Gerhard Mercator's map of 1569, making some aspects of this 1605 map obsolete, including the concept of the North Pole being divided into four separate islands. However, other aspects of the map were highly advanced, including the addition of Novaya Zembla or Nova Zembla and the inclusion of two celestial hemispheres on the upper and lower centres, these again derived from a later Plancius maps of 1592 and 1594.

However, the most notable feature of this map is the inclusion of four small insets illustrating individual maps on each corner. These show the islands of Japan, Iceland, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and St. Helena. While this is not the first time that these islands have been portrayed individually in cartographic form, it is the first time that they have been portrayed as insets in this manner. The most likely reason was to highlight their recent discovery and their importance. Both Japan and Ceylon were perceived as exotic, mysterious and wealthy with the latter being cited as a major source of cinnamon; Iceland had become the centre of the northern whaling industry and St. Helena was an important staging post for the long and dangerous sea voyages to the Far East.

The map of Iceland is based on the Ortelius map which in turn was credited to Andreas Vedel although now it is generally accepted as being the work of Bishop Gudbrandur Thorlaksson; the panorama of St. Helena is based on Hugo van Linschoten's map issued in his "Itinerario" while the shape of Ceylon is take again taken from Linschoten's map of the Indian Ocean which he, in turn acquired from Portuguese Portolans in Goa. The distinctive 'shrimp-shaped' Japan can ultimately be traced to the exquisite Portolan chart of the Portuguese cartographer Fernao Vaz Dourado again based in Goa.

Merula's work proved popular and was issued twice after his death but only the 1605 first edition contained the map, making it rare. Framed.

[WLD2978]
Close full details

Publications

Shirley, 254.
Share
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
Previous
|
Next
21 
of  200

Join our mailing list

Submit

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied to communicate with you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.

Contact

The Map House

54 Beauchamp Place,
London SW3 1NY,

United Kingdom


maps@themaphouse.com
+44 (0)20 7589 4325

Shipping

Privacy

Contact

Framing

We Buy Maps

Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Twitter, opens in a new tab.
Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Youtube, opens in a new tab.
Privacy Policy
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 The Map House
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Join our mailing list

Submit

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied to communicate with you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.