In Mercator's projection the size of land masses is sacrificed. It preserves the shape of land masses and provides for plotting courses of constant direction. The lines of longitude are straight vertical lines equal distance apart at all latitudes, and horizontal distances are stretched above and below the equator so that shape and direction are preserved.
     The souvenir sheet shows a portion of the "Chart of the World on Mercator's Projection," from the General Atlas, Edinburgh, 1821. It was issued to commemorate the bicentennial of the birth of Simón Bolivar, 1783-1983.

     The Map Stamp, the Canadian Christmas stamp of 1898 was the first representation of the Mercator Projection on a stamp. The scale is .1" to 1,973 miles.

     The French stamp shows France's colonial possessions in 1940. The word "D'OUTRE-MER" is misspelled "D'OUTREMER." It is spelled correctly on a postage stamp (not semi-postal) with the same design issued in 1945.

     The German stamp clearly shows the horizontal stretching of latitude at the poles.