Theatrum orbis terrarum. [With:] Parergon [And:] Nomenclator Ptolemaicus

ORTELIUS, Abraham

Published by Officina Plantiniana, Antwerp, 1591

About this Item

THE FIRST MODERN WORLD ATLAS HAND-COLOURED AND HEIGHTENED IN GOLD. Fourth Latin edition of the first modern world atlas, and a copy hand-coloured and heightened in gold. First published in 1570, the Theatrum is the first atlas to contain maps printed in a uniform style and format and to display a catalogue of the authors whose source Ortelius used in the drawing of the maps. Ortelius s atlas "set a standard by which subsequent collections would be judged and compared" (Short). Even though it was the most expensive work published at the time, it proved an instant success with four versions of the first edition being printed in 1570 alone. Several editions were printed at the Officina Plantiniana at the end of the 16th century and from 1585 Ortelius began to include historical maps in a section called Paregon. The maps and plates in the Parergon may be considered "the most outstanding engravings depicting the wide-spread interest in classical geography in the 16th century" (Van der Krogt). The present 1592 edition, the fourth Latin edition, contains 108 maps as well as the 26 maps and views of the Parergon, as well as an index called Nomenclator Ptolemaicus that lists all the names mentioned in Ptolemy s Geographia. New to this edition are the maps of Flanders and Brabant. "This is the first edition of the Theatrum with a clear division into three parts: (1) the Atlas itself, (2) the Parergon, and (3) the Nomenclator. The Parergon had for the first time its own title page. For this title page Plantin made use of the woodblock he had used for the title page of Genesis in the Biblia Regia, printed in 1569-72. Printing started in July 1590, but because of a shortage of paper the printing lasted longer than expected. The Nomenclator was printed between February and May 1591 (the title page was dated 1591). The rest of the Theatrumwas printed in the summer of 1591. The first copies were delivered on 6 August 1591. The colophon however has the date 1592. The Plantin Press printed 525 copies of this edition. After this edition, only the fifth Additamentum would further enlarge the Theatrum" (Koeman). The present copy, which has all the maps in contemporary hand-colouring, has an early Spanish provenance, with marginal comments in Spanish and Latin. The text on the map of Valencia has been censored with a patch, erasing the text on the practice of Islam in Spain; this is the final edition of the text in which this passage appeared. The title of the atlas, the Theatre of the Earth, references the idea of the theatre of nature, in which God s laws play out for a human audience. It is "a title that announces encyclopedic intentions of surveying all of nature to provide complete and ordered coverage" (Short), providing a mirror of nature for the service of humanity. This idea achieved such broad cultural penetration that Shakespeare s 1599 play As You Like It would declare that "All the world's a stage." Only three other complete copies with contemporary hand-colouring listed on RBH since 1984. Provenance: Ruperto de Zafra (inscription on title page and marginalia in Spanish and Latin); Christie s New York, 15 October 2021, lot 68, $237,500. "With the exception of his friend [Gerardus] Mercator, Ortelius (1527-98) was the principal cartographer of the sixteenth century. He was born to a Catholic family whose origins were in Augsburg. At the age of twenty he was admitted as an illuminator of maps into the guild of St. Luke in his native town. Soon he was able to earn his living by buying, coloring, and selling maps produced by map makers in various countries. Ortelius traveled widely in his profession; he went regularly to the Frankfurt Fair and visited Italy several times before 1558. In the period 1559-1560 he traveled through Lorraine and Poitou in the company of Mercator, who encouraged him to become a cartographer and to draw his own maps. The first product of this new activity was an eight-sheet map of the world published in 1564. In. Seller Inventory # 6044

Bibliographic Details

Title: Theatrum orbis terrarum. [With:] Parergon [...

Publisher: Officina Plantiniana, Antwerp

Publication Date: 1591

Edition: First edition.