| Method | Copper engraved with early hand colour |
| Artist | Ortelius, Abraham |
| Published | Cum Privilegio. [1592] |
| Dimensions | 380 x 499 mm |
| Notes |
A finely engraved and detailed map of the Kingdom of Spain, with early hand colouring and exhibiting numerous decorative flourishes. Part of the famous Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Ortelius' map of Spain and Portugal took as a key source the map produced in 1571 by the French botanist Charles de l'Escluse. Attractively decorated in early hand colour, the map plots numerous Spanish and Portuguese towns and cities, as well as dividing the kingdom into the regions of Galitia, Asturias, Biscaia, Navarra, Aragonia, Catalonia, Castilia Nova and Vetus, Valencia, Murcia, Granada, and Andaluzia. A ship sits off the north-westernmost point of the peninsula, and another sails the Ligurian gulf. A monstrous swordfish is depicted above the Balearics, and a whale on the Atlantic side of the Straits of Gibraltar. Latin text on verso. Abraham Ortelius (1527 -1598) was a Flemish cartographer, cosmographer, geographer and publisher and a contemporary of Gerard Mercator, with whom he travelled through Italy and France. Although it is Mercator who first used the word "Atlas" as a name for a collection of maps, it is Ortelius who is remembered as the creator of the first modern atlas. Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was the first systematically collated set of maps by different map makers in a uniform format. Three Latin editions as well as a Dutch, French and German edition of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum were published by 1572 and a further 25 editions printed before Ortelius' death in 1598. Several more were subsequently printed until around 1612. Ortelius is said to have been the first person to pose the question of the continents once being a single land mass before separating into their current positions. Condition: Central vertical fold as issued. Repaired puncture and abrasions to central crease. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £700.00 |
| Stock ID | 37246 |