(Image courtesy of Washington State Library)

Looking at an atlas made today might not excite many of us since we’re so familiar with the shape of states, nations, continents and other landforms that we’d see.

But seeing an atlas created nearly 500 years ago, during an era when conventional wisdom had just accepted that the world was round and not flat? You can’t help but be intrigued by that.

Such an atlas is very historic and rare. And our State Library has one. It is our second Library Jewel for April.

Its title is extremely long – Atlas minor Gerardi Mercatoris / à I. Hondio plurimis aeneis tabulis auctus et illustratus: denuo recognitus, additisque novis delineationibus emendates. The atlas includes one of the earliest available maps of Japan and Korea, although Korea is represented as an island.

The pocket atlas is found in the library’s Rare Publications Collection.