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ORTELIUS, Abraham (1527-1598). Theatrum orbis terrarum. Antwerp: Anthonis Coppens van Diest, 1573.
ORTELIUS, Abraham (1527-1598). Theatrum orbis terrarum. Antwerp: Anthonis Coppens van Diest, 1573. 2 o (444 x 309 mm). Engraved allegorical title, 70 engraved double-page maps, most by Frans Hogenberg, ALL COLORED IN A CONTEMPORARY HAND, some maps heightened with gold. (World map with margins restored and minor cracking within green color, Asia map with short marginal tear affecting image margin, Europe map with lower margin restored and cracking within green color, Britain map with lower margin and tear crossing image restored, some other more minor repairs mostly marginal but occasionally crossing image.) Modern half morocco preserving old mottled boards, edges gilt. SUPERBLY COLORED COPY OF ORTELIUS' ENLARGED THEATRUM , ASSEMBLING 70 UNIFORM MAPS OF THE WORLD, INCLUDING THE MOST RENOWNED CARTOGRAPHERS OF THAT PERIOD Second (enlarged) edition, adding 17 maps not included in the first edition and the "Catalogus Auctorum" extended to 103 names. First published in 1570, the Theatrum orbis terrarum is universally recognized as the first modern atlas. It was the most authoritative and successful of such works during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and it made Abraham Ortelius one of the most prominent geographers of his time. The atlas is the first 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. "It was the Atlas of the Renaissance par excellence, embodying and expressing as it did the spirit of free inquiry that characterized the age"(Penrose, Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance p.324). "The publication of [the first edition] of this atlas marked an epoch in the history of cartography. It was the first uniformly sized, systematic collection of maps of the countries of the world based only on contemporary knowledge and in that sense may be called the first modern atlas" (Tooley). Ortelius amassed a large private collection of maps and corresponded with most map-makers and map-sellers in Antwerp and abroad. This enabled him to compile the "Atlas of the Whole World" from the best available sources. His list of contributors, which included not only the authors of the original maps but other cartographers and geographers as well, has been of particular value for historians of cartography. The engraved allegorical title with its five female figures representing the five continents (one a mere bust, symbolizing the mostly unexplored continent of "Magellenica," i.e. Antarctica), contains what is "probably the earliest allegorical representation of America" (Koeman). The Atlas includes Ortelius' famous world map: "Typus Orbis Terrarum," followed by his map of the Americas "Americae Sive Novi Orbis, Nova Descriptio," (second state, with the Azores correctly labeled), maps of Asia, Africa, Europe and numerous regional maps. The atlas was first published in 1570 (with 53 maps) and more than 40 editions were published until 1612. Through the launching of his world atlas "pre-eminence in map publishing was transferred from Italy to the Netherlands leading to over a hundred years of Dutch supremacy in all facets of cartographical production" (Shirley). Burden 39; Koeman III, Ort 9; van der Krogt IIIA-31:011; Phillips 374. See PMM 91 (1570 edition); Sabin 57693; Shirley 122; Tooley Maps and Map-Makers p.29.