ORTELIUS, Abraham (1527-1598)
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.. - Parergon in quo Veteris Geographiae aliquot tabulae... - Nomenclator Ptolemaicus.
Antwerp: Christopher Plantin, 1584. Second Latin edition, printed by Plantin.

Comparables: Galerie Bassenge, 2017 - EUR 190,650.

Folio (18" x 11 3/4"). Engraved architectural title-page, "Parergon" with engraved vignette title-page with woodcut surround, "Nomenclator" title-page with woodcut vignette, engraved portrait of Ortelius by Phillip Galle, and 112 double-page engraved maps ALL WITH FINE RICH CONTEMPORARY HAND-COLOUR and mounted on guards (one or two very discreet and expert repairs to early leaves, small repair to gutter of the map of Africa affecting the image, some light browning and occasional marginal thumbing). Modern vellum over paste-board, each cover elaborately decorated in a Dutch 16th-century mannerist style (front endpapers renewed with antique paper, ATTRACTIVE).

Provenance: with the early initials F. B. at the foot of the title-page.

A TALL AND ATTRACTIVE COPY. The world map "Typus orbis terrarum" is Shirley's first plate, second state, with the crack in the copperplate repaired lower left "All the elements of the modern atlas were brought to publication in Abraham Ortelius' 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum'. This substantial undertaking assembled... the best available maps of the world by the most renowned and up-to-date geographers... each of Ortelius' maps was engraved specifically for his atlas according to uniform formats" (Shirley).

Ortelius first published his "Theatrum...", arguably the first atlas in the modern sense of the word, in 1570, with 70 seventy copper engravings on fifty-three double-folio pages. A businessman native to Antwerp, Ortelius compiled the best existing maps, re-engraved them on a standardized format, and included them with the text in one volume. But, by 1570, he had been dealing in maps and charts for more than twenty years. The death of Ortelius' father in 1535, who had been a wealthy merchant, seems to have placed his family in financial difficulties. When Ortelius was as young as 19 he is recorded as having joined the Guild of St. Luke as 'afsetter' "or colourist of maps and prints. He seems to have reached a very advanced level of skill in this craft, as some customers continued to insist on buying atlases colored by him personally at a time when he had already developed into a publisher and cartographer/merchant... Ortelius [also] became a trader in books, prints and maps. Much of this trading had to do with the house of Plantin [subsequently publisher of the Theatrum'J.. .Soon he was attending the book fair in Frankfurt to buy and sell books, maps and prints for others as well as for himself. He first met Gerard Mercator there in 1554, which marked the state of a life long professional relationship and personal friendship... " (van den Broecke page 14).

Through his work Ortelius became quite cosmopolitan. He travelled extensively to France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Italy, England and Ireland, and as a result had command of several languages. With the publication of the "Theatrum" came tremendous success and wealth. Giving full credit to the original cartographers, the "Theatrum" was so successful that it was printed three times in 1570 alone. In 1574 Ortelius retained the position of Royal Cosmographer to Phillip Il and was given a fine gold necklace, worth 1000 ducats. Between 1570 and 1612 the atlas was published in 42 editions and the 7 languages: Latin, German, Flemish, French, Spanish, English and Italian. Maps relating to the Americas are "Typus Orbis Terrarum" showing south America with a great bulge on the Chilean coastline, and New Guinea as a separate island, with the imaginary great south land "Terra Australis Nondum Cognita" covering the southernmost latitudes, and with the Terra del Fuego and Beach peninsulars marked; "Americae sive Novi Orbis Nova Descriptio" shows North and South America with the coastline of Chili a great bulge, New Guinea and Terra del Fuego are shown as peninsulars of the great southern land; "Hispaniae Novae sive Magnae... 1579"; "Culiacanae..." and the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba; and Peru, Florida. Maps relating to Australia are "Asiae Nova Descriptio" which shows New Guinea as a separate island and the north coast of Australia as "Terrae Incognitae Australis"; and "Indiae Orientalis Insularumque Adiacientium typus".

Van den Broecke "Ortelius Atlas Maps" 2011; Koeman Ort 21.