Atlas of the Day: Theatro d'el orbe de la tierra (Theatrum orbis terrarum) ORTELIUS, Abraham (1527-1598).

AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE AND ATTRACTIVE COPY OF THE EXTREMELY RARE SPANISH EDITION OF ORTELIUS'S "THEATRUM ORBIS TERRARUM"

• EXCEPTIONALLY FINE HAND-COLOURED engraved title-page (HEIGHTED WITH GOLD), coat of arms of Philip III of Spain by P.A. Schottus, portrait of Ortelius and 149 engraved maps by Frans Hogenberg and others on 120 copperplates and printed on 117 mapsheets, each map richly embellished with figural cartouches, arms, sailing ships, sea monsters, and deities, etc.
• Published under the imprint of Jan Baptist Vrients, who assumed responsibility for the atlas three years after Ortelius's death.
• Vrients added several new maps to Ortelius's oeuvre and continued to publish the atlas until his own death in 1612, after which no further editions appeared.

This edition of the "Theatrum." was published without the "Parergon" and the "Nomenclator". The world map used in this edition is printed from Ortelius's third and final "Typus orbis terrarium" plate, which greatly improved the delineation of the southwest coastline of South America and depicted the Solomon Islands for the first time. Also included is the landmark map "America Sive Novi Orbis Nova Descrptio" (America, or New World, Newly Described). Ortelius first published his "Theatrum.", arguably the first atlas in the modern sense of the word in 1570. A businessman native to Antwerp, Ortelius complied the best existing maps, re-engraved them on a standardized format, and included them with the text in one volume. Dedicated to Philip III, King of Spain, who in 1602 ordered an 'armada' to sail from Acapulco on the South coast of Mexico to report on the islands of the Pacific Oceans and the "great realm of California."

Offered at $375,000.

We intend to have the lowest prices on ABE, Alibris, Biblio, AE, and Artnet while maintaining the highest levels of quality in the business for every offering. To inquire or view the complete offering, please contact our curators at info@aradernyc.com or call our 72nd Street NYC gallery at (212) 628-3668.