Map of Mexico

Copperplate map of Mexico from 1638 in the atlas of the Dutch cartographer Gerhard Mercator. This is a map that is clearly based on Abraham Ortelius' famous map of Mexico printed in 1579. The major differences concern only the inscription cartouches and the decoration, the cartographic part de facto copies Ortelius' work. The map shows approximately the south-western area of present-day Mexico. For its time it has an elaborate river network and a considerable number of toponyms. Below the title cartouche, Mexico City is depicted in stylized miniature on the shore of one of the lakes.