Gerardus Mercator’s richly weathered “Map World – Antique Paper” was a groundbreaking creation for the world of cartography, using methods that were so innovative, that they challenged religious teaching leading to his arrest for religious heresy. Mercator (1512 – 1594) was a Flemish cartographer who learned astronomy, geography, mathematics, engraving, calligraphy and instrument-making, all of which he used to devise the first accurate method of portraying a round object on a flat surface. His mapmaking technique, called the Mercator Projection, allowed sailors to travel long distances without frequent changes in compass readings.

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