| Method | Copper engraved with early hand colour |
| Artist | Ortelius, Abraham |
| Published | Cum priuilegio [Antwerp, 1588] |
| Dimensions | 380 x 500 mm |
| Notes |
A beautiful example of Ortelius' second map of the 'Turkish Empire,' essentially showing the extent of Ottoman control over the middle east during the late sixteenth century, from the 1588 Spanish edition of the famous Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. The map encompasses the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey, Mesopotamia, the territories around the Black Sea and the Caspian, the Arabian peninsula, and Egypt and North Africa, as well as adjacent parts of East Africa, Persia, and Tartary. Principal towns and cities are picked out in red, and the rest of the map is beautifully ornamented in full hand colour. Rivers, mountains, and lakes are shown pictorially, and the waters of the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and the Euxine are populated by sailing ships and sea monsters. Numerous notes describe the various riches and wonders of the Ottoman territories. The sources of aloe and incense are plotted, the fabled Silk-Route city of Samarkand includes a note about Tamerlane, and Prester John is described as ruling far and wide over Ethiopia. In the bottom left corner, covering much of central Africa, is a huge and highly decorative title cartouche, topped with cherubs and supported by a pair of Sirens. In the earlier state, the title is roofed by a trellis supporting a vine, and flanked by burning censers. A moral lesson below the title reads: Concordia parvae res crescunt, Discordia maximae dilabuntur - 'Through Unity, small things grow. Through Discord, they collapse utterly' 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 tears to bottom margin, not affecting map. Minor time toning to margins from old mount, not affecting map. Verdigris from early colour on verso. Spanish letterpress text on verso. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £1,500.00 |
| Stock ID | 50388 |