Hendrick Scherer (1628 -1704)
was a German Jesuit priest and polymath who became famous as a cartographer, geographer and professor. Nothing is known about his birthplace and his youth.
In 1645 he entered the Jesuit Order. Scherer served as a Professor of Hebrew, Ethics and Mathematics at the University of Dillingen until around 1680 when he became the Official Tutor to the Royal Princes of Mantua and Bavaria in Munich. During his time in Munich, Scherer‘s work as a cartographer gained recognition and acclaim. As a devout Jesuit, his motivation was to depict the Catholic hierarchy and to spread the Jesuit missions throughout the world.
Scherer‘s life‘s work was the „Atlas Novus“, completed shortly before his death.
First published in Munich between 1702 and 1710 and subsequently re-issued in a second edition between 1730 and 1737, it was a revolutionary work highlighting the efforts of Jesuit missionaries around the globe most notably in North and South America, South East Asia and the Far East during the early 18th century. The atlas comprises seven distinct volumes, each with specialized titles, to which writings Scherer had left were posthum added.
The complete name of the geographical manual is „Atlas Novus, exhibens orbem terraqueum per naturae opera, historiae novae ac veteris monumenta, artisque geographicae leges et praecepta“ and offers a comprehensive look at geography, politics, nature and religious themes. It forms an important milestone in the development of scientific cartography.
The more then 120 maps and 60 cartographical tables included in this work were engraved by Leonard Hecknaeur, Joseph Montelegre or Matthus Wolfgang between 1699 and 1700, with each volume introduced by fine allegorical frontispieces by the same engravers.
Scherer’s maps chart the spread of the Catholic faith in the late 16th and 17th centuries principally through the efforts of Jesuit missionaries around the globe and most notably in North and South America, South East Asia and Far East. Scherer notes down ancient bishoprics and missionary locations, non-Catholic territories are marked with dark shading and a section is dedicated to holy sites associated with the virgin Mary.
These religious themes make the „Atlas Novus“ one of the first compilations of thematic maps.
Map Details
This map shows the whole northern part of the European continent and prescribes in detail Scandinavia, the Baltic region, a big part of eastern Russia, Poland, the northern part of Germany, the Netherlands, the northern part of Belgium, England, Ireland and the islands in the North Atlantic, including Iceland.
The Arctic Circle („Circulus Arcticus“) ist marked but runs too far south.
The decorative title cartouche looking like a crown is placed in the ocean between Norway and Iceland with a sailing vessel next to it. In the lower left corner a vertical mileage scale („Milliaria“) is to be found underneath the IHS Christogram.
Iceland („Islandia Insula“) is depicted with only two place-names in the interior: the bishopric Skalholt with a church symbol and M. Hekla in a fiery eruption.