Lot n° 29
Estimation :
3000 - 3500
EUR
[World]. ORTELIUS (Abraham). Typus Orbis Terrarum. [Antwerp, - Lot 29
[World]. ORTELIUS (Abraham). Typus Orbis Terrarum. [Antwerp, 1587]. 1 copper-engraved map, 36 x 49 cm. on sheet approx. 43 x 55 cm. hand-colored (restored).
Third and last edition of Ortelius' famous world map with medallions in the corners.
This map by Ortelius is considered the most famous world map ever published. The world is illustrated on a magnificent planisphere based on Mercator's projection of 1569. Despite Ortelius's continual revisions and updates, this map contained some of the most common errors of the time. The west coast of South America was not correctly projected until the third state of the second edition, between 1587 and 1588. The Solomon Islands are poorly projected, as are Japan and New Guinea. The representation of North America, where the St. Lawrence River is extended towards the center of the continent, is also the result of much conjecture.
It was included in his first published atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570), and in its Dutch, French, German and later Latin versions. Shirley identifies three editions and six states published during the second half of the 16th century, with the exception of the last state which was published around 1628. The present copy is the map in the first state of its third edition, engraved on a new plate and published in 1587 with some geographical revisions. The first two editions of this map are illustrated with clouds in the corners, while the third edition is distinguished by four decorative medallions containing Latin text in the corners.
(Shirley 122).
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