CLOPPENBERG

NATOLIA SIVE ASIA MINOR

Johannes CLOPPENBERG

Amsterdam, 1630

19 x 25 cm.

The ‘Atlas Minor’ by Johannes Cloppenburg was the least successful of three ‘Minor’ versions of Gerard Mercator’s ‘Atlas’. Published in just three editions the first was issued in 1630. The reasons for this are unknown but may have something to do with the fact that when the plates reappeared some forty years later they were in the hands of Johannes Janssonius’ descendants. Janssonius had published a rival slightly smaller atlas in 1628. It is possible he bought this the largest of the three works. The copperplates for this work were engraved by Pieter van den Keere. This map Asia Minor or present day Turkey with Cyprus and the Aegian Islands.