Mercator globes were widely distributed in the 16th century. Sold for over 40 years without any changes being made to the original printing plates, they can be regarded as a true commercial success. However, the exact number of globes produced in that period is not known.

In 1899 Matteo Fiorini drew up an initial inventory of the known Mercator globes that still existed in pairs or singly. His inventory was republished in 1921 by Edward L. Stevenson and subsequently cited in the bibliographies of many other authors.

The most recent census was drawn up in 1993 by Peter van der Krogt. This was our reference for assessing the number of surviving globes and their locations, all listed in the bibliography. This information is not entirely reliable, however, because since 1993 some globes may have moved, others may have disappeared and still others may not yet be catalogued.

Inventory based on the bibliographies consulted by Peter van der Krogt in 1993

* TG = Terrestrial globe
** GC = Celestial globe

Pairs	Krogt Ref.	Country	TG*	CG**	Location	Notes
		Austria
1	1				Admont (abbey)
	2				Innsbruck (Wilten abbey)	no longer exists
	3				Rein (abbey)	no longer exists
	4				Stams (abbey)	GC no longer exists
2	5				Vienna (Globenmuseum)
3	6				Vienna (Globenmuseum)
		Belgium
4	7				Brussels (Bibliothèque royale Albert 1er)	1875 facsimiles
5	8				Sint Niklaas (Mercatormuseum)
		France
6	9				Paris (Observatoire national / Musée astronomique)
		Germany
7	10				Amberg (Heimatmuseum)
	11				Berlin (Staatsbibliothek)
	12				Dresden (Staatliche Mathematisch-Physikalische Salon)	probably identical to the Weimar (N° 21)
8	13				Duisbourg (Kultur- und Stadhistorisches Museum)
	14				Helmstedt (Ehemalige Universitäts-bibliothek)
	15				Ingolstadt (Museum)
9	16				Lunebourg (Museum für das Fürstentum)
	17				Munich (Deutsches Museum)
10	18				Nuremberg (Germanisches Nationalmuseum)	Also the Behaim globe (1492)
11	19				Ratisbonne (Fürsliche Thurn- und Taxis’sche Hofbibliothek)
12	20				Ratisbonne (Museum der Stadt)
	21				Weimar (Stiftung Weimarer Klassik)	See also No. 12; a CG could be at the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek
	22				Wolfenbüttel (Bibliothek)
		Italy
13	23				Cremone (Biblioteca Governativa)
14	24				Prato (Biblioteca Marquis Gherardi)
15	25				Rome (Museo Astronomico e Copernicano)
	26				Rome (Museo Astronomico e Copernicano)
16	27				Urbania (Biblioteca Municipale)	Moved to the Palazzo Ducale
		Netherlands
	28				Amsterdam (Rijkmuseum)
	29				Rotterdam (Maritim Museum Prins Hendrik)
		Poland
17	30				Krakow (Museum of the Jagellon University)
	31				Torun (Ksiazica Miejska im. Mikolaja Kopernika)
		Sweden
	32				Stockholm (M. Wenner-Gren)
		Switzerland
	33				Basel (Historisches Museum)	TG on permanent display Damaged CG in a storeroom, not listed by Krogt
	34				Basel (Sternwarte)	Could be the same as No. 33 ?
					Lausanne (University)	Recorded in 2004, not listed by Krogt
		UK
19	35				Greenwich (National Maritime Museum)
		US
20	36				Cambridge (Harvard University, Houghton Library)
	37				Chicago (Adler Planetarium)
	38				New York (The H.P. Kraus Private Collection)
					Austin (University of Texas, Kraus Map Collection)	Not in Krogt’s inventory; No. 38 ?
		Japan
21	39				Tenti-shi, Nara Prefecture (Tenri Central Library)
	40				Tenti-shi, Nara Prefecture (Tenri Central Library)