Mid 19th Century Ancient Mercator Map

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World map showing the Mercator projection as he drew it in 1569.
An original 1838 edition of a Pierre M. … Read more World map showing the Mercator projection as he drew it in 1569.
An original 1838 edition of a Pierre M. Lapie map.

The Mercator projection is a cartographic projection of the earth, shown as a flat map. Geradus Mercator constructed this type of map to aid navigation back in 1569, which it did.
However the main drawback was the longitude and latitude lines were either horizontal or vertical so the navigators were not able to calculate exact distances.

The guy that copied it Pierre Lapie was born in 1779 and died in 1850. He was a cartographer and engraver firstly but was also a commissioned officer in the French army. He also held the numerous posts in the Topographique War Ministry.
His Son Alexandre Lapie 1800 – 1871, also an officer in the French army and a cartographer who held the rank of “First Geographer to the King” even though the French revolution was over before he was born. The last king, Louis the XVI was executed in 1793.
Due to his military career he was made a “Knight of the Legion of Honour” he was also a member of the “Geographical Society”
Between father and son both working together they produced many beautiful Atlases and maps and had a very strong influence upon the commercial German map publishers in the early part of the 19th century. See less