The early-coloured map 'Nobilis Hannoniae com. Descriptio' from the 1632 edition of the 'Atlas Sive Cosmographicae' is a collaborative work by cartographers Gerardus Mercator, Jodocus Hondius and Johannes Cloppenburgh. This map shows a detailed cartographic representation of Hainaut, Belgium.
 
There have been three Cloppenburgh editions in total: 1630, 1632 and 1636. This is the second edition from 1632. Most of the maps in the second edition were engraved by Pieter van den Keere. 
 
Johannes Cloppenburgh was a Dutch cartographer who lived from 1592 to 1652. Based in Amsterdam, he was mainly active between the years of 1610 until 1644.
 
Gerard Mercator is without a doubt one of the most famous cartographers of all time. He was born in 1512 in Belgium (Flanders), and died in 1594 in Duisburg, Germany. After completing his university studies in 1532, Mercator met Gemma Frisius: a mathematician, as well as Gaspar van der Heyden, also known as Gaspar a Myrica, who was a goldsmith and an engraver. Together, these men were able to produce incredible globes and scientific instruments which ultimately allowed Mercator to gain his skills in cartography.
 
The most important contribution that Mercator has made, was the creation as well as the popularisation of a cylindrical map projection in 1569, known as the ‘Mercator Projection’. It became the standard map projection for navigation because it is unique in representing north as up and south as down everywhere while preserving local directions and shapes. This served for an accurate latitude as well as longitude calculation which eventually allowed navigational routes to be drawn using straight lines. This was especially important and advantageous for sailors as they could now plot courses without needing to constantly recourse to adjust compass readings. 
 
Jodocus Hondius born in 1563 and died in 1612 was another very important Flemish cartographer. After having left Belgium in 1583 due to the capture of Ghent by the Spanish, Hondius settled down in Amsterdam in 1593, opening up his own Hondius publishing house. While working with Cornelius Claesz, the two men were able to acquire the copper plates from Mercator’s ‘Atlas Minor’ from Gerard Mercator’s grandson. Hondius immediately started reproducing as well as expanding the ‘Atlas Minor’ by adding 36 new maps. Hondius’s Mercator Atlas was a huge success. Although Hondius listed himself only as the publisher and Mercator as the author, the new series became known as the Mercator-Hondius atlas and it established Jodocus Hondius as one of the most famous publishers of that time.
 
The map is overall in very good condition, it has some light age toning. Furthermore, it is decoratively coloured and contains a latin text at the back. The map is a copper engraving.