Mercator Globes:

In the sixteenth and seventeenth century Holland was a powerful nation in overseas trade. In 1581 the Dutch became independent from the Spanish king. In an atmosphere free of religious suppression Antwerp and Amsterdam became centers for the arts and science. And Dutch cartographers and map makers were as dominant in Europe as were Dutch ships on the seven seas of the world. Photo above "Southwest England by Mercator"

Gerardus Mercator is something like the father of modern map making. His original name was Gerhard Kremer. At that time Latin was the lingua franca of the scholars and many adopted a Latin name just as it is fashionable today to use English as an International language.

Gerardus Mercator was born in Rupelmonde in Flanders and had studied geography, cartography and mathematics at the University of Louvain in Belgium. He published his first map in 1537 at the age of 25 - a map of Palestine. Mercator introduced today's way of displaying a map with 90 degree parallel lines for the latitudes and meridians.

Mercator's main work, a three volume world atlas, was published in several editions from 1585 on and beyond his death in 1594. Gerardus Mercator was the first to use the word atlas. In 1604 another famous cartographer, Jodocus Hondius had acquired Mercator's original plates and published several more editions. The subsequent generation of mapmakers more or less copied from Mercator's world atlas.

Hondius Globes:

Jodocus Hondius was born in Flanders. He learned the business of map and globe making and engraving from scratch as an apprentice. In 1584 he went to London for a few years to escape religious turmoils in Flanders. In 1593 Hondius settled in Amsterdam as an engraver and publisher.

In 1604 Jodocus Hondius bought the original plates of Mercator's World Atlas and enlarged the number of maps by about forty. From 1606 Hondius published this extended edition under the name of Mercator and his own name as a publisher. Before his death, Hondius had published also a small-size version, the Atlas Minor. The publishing company was continued by his widow and his sons, Jodocus II and Henricus Hondius, after the death of Jodocus Hondius in 1612.

Above Reference information copyright http://www.artelino.com/articles/historical_maps_netherlands.asp.

Vaugondy Globes:

Father and Son de Vaugondy were court cartographers for Louis XIV, the Sun King. Their ornate globes decorated libraries and reception rooms at Versailles and the Louvre in Paris A.D. 1750. One set of original paper globe gores made by Vaugondy is carefully guarded in archives of the Biblioteque Nationale de France. Using printed copies of the original globe gores we manufacture true replicas. The wrought iron curls and rings of the Baroque style globe stand comple the whole. A historical document representing the beauty and prestige of ancient carography and exploration.