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Author: Ortelius, Abraham
Title: Americae Sive Novi Orbis Nova Descriptio
Place Published:
Publisher:Antwerp
Date Published: 1579
Description:

Copper-engraved map, hand-colored (later). 36.5x51.5 cm. (14½x20¼").

Landmark map of the Americas, one of the most widely disseminated of its time, of great influence, the product of one of the leading mapmakers of his or any era. Burden calls it "One of the most famous and easily recognizable maps of America, and one that is both functional as well as decorative." Its great influence was due to a large extent to its presence in Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first atlas produced that uniformly covered the world with similarly sized and styled maps. Published on May 20, 1570, it was instantly successful, and went through four issues in the first year alone. Burden goes on to note that "Ortelius depicts the discoveries of a number of people on this map, but the general shape of the continent is derived from Gerard Mercator's great twenty-one sheet world map of the previous year... One of the main noticeable features of the map is the bulbous Chilean coastline; this was not corrected until his third plate [produced in 1587]. A strategically placed cartouche hides a complete lack of knowledge of the southern waters of the Pacific... The west coast of North America is shown too far west, as was common at the time..." There were three copper plates made over the life of the atlas for the American map. The present map is from the second plate, issued in 1579, quite similar to the 1570 first plate, but with the strapwork border 4 mm. thick, the largest ship in the Pacific sailing eastwards, and graduations along the equatorial line. Burden 39; Goss p.34.

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Expertly restored and retouched, with 6½x5" piece of lower right corner replaced, redrawn and recolored, as well as a 2¼x2¼" piece of the Pacific Ocean which includes the largest ship, a little chipping to the top corners in the margins only; very good.