This article analyses the Mercator-Hondius Atlas maps in the context of constructing knowledge of the world. In what follows, we analyse the elements of continental geographies and ocean spaces on the maps presented in the atlas. We take as our starting point the tension between empirical and theoretical knowledge and examine the changes occurring in the ways of representing land and sea on atlas maps which are evident in the Mercator-Hondius Atlas. Consequently, we investigate how the world was represented through information in pictorial and textual form. We argue that the maps in the Mercator-Hondius Atlas make explicit not only the multiple cartographical traditions and the layered nature of atlases as artefacts. They also exemplify the various coexisting functions of the atlas.

Otto Latva, University of Turku MA Otto Latva is a PhD candidate in Cultural History at the University of Turku. In his thesis Latva studies perceptions and attitudes towards the deep sea dwelling squid, the giant squid, in western culture from the late eighteenth century to the turn of the twentieth century. His research interests includes history of animals, history of nat-ural sciences and the oceanic research from the perspective of cultural history. Johanna Emilia Skurnik, University of Turku

MA Johanna Skurnik is a PhD candidate in European and World History at the University of Turku. Her research interests are history of knowledge, history of cartography and historical geography. In her thesis Skurnik examines British geographies of colonial Australia in the mid-nineteenth century.