Antique Maps Leen Helmink Antique map of America by Ortelius Click here or on the image for a high resolution photo or scan. MAKER Ortelius TITLE Americae Sive Novi Orbis Nova Descriptio PLACE ISSUED Antwerp FIRST EDITION 1587 THIS EDITION 1603 SIZE (hxw cms) 35.4 x 48.4 AREA SHOWN America TECHNIQUE Copper engraving COLOURING b/w CONDITION The overall quality of this antique map is mint DESCRIPTION Perfect condition. Strong and even impression, thick and clean paper, wide margins. "One of the most famous and easily recognised maps of America, and one that is both functional as well as decorative. As with Sebastian Münster's 'NOVAE INSULAE' thirty years earlier, this was widely sold throughout Europe and had a great influence on the future cartography of the New World. [...] 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. The two of them had a close relationship and shared their knowledge openly with each other. It is recorded that they travelled together through France in 1560. One of the main noticeable features of the map [in plate I and II] is the Bulbous Chilean coastline; this was not corrected until his third plate [the one offered here]. A strategically placed cartouche hides a complete lack of knowledge of the southern waters of the Pacific. Once through the Strait of Magellan the voyager's sea route took him on an almost direct course for the East Indies. No sight had been made of a large continent but conventional wisdom had it that there had to be as much land in the southern hemisphere as in the northern. This was not fully dispelled until the second voyage of the remarkable Captain James Cook in 1772-75. The west coast of North America is shown too far west, as was common at the time. There is no new nomenclature shown. Ortelius had three copperplates cut over the life of the atlas for the American continent. The first had developed two cracks in the top left of the plate, and upon correction of the 1575 edition immediately developed another. The second plate is very similar to this one, and was itself followed by a third one." (Burden on the 1570 first plate). "This is the third of the plates that Ortelius used to delineate the American continent. The earlier ones first appeared in 1570 and 1578 respectively. This one is most easily identified by the lack of a bulge to the south-western coastline of South America. It is mostly correct in showing a southerly extending shoreline. This is also the only one of the three with his imprint, where he states that he was its author. At first glance not much appears to have been altered, but closer inspection reveals a great deal. The Solomon Islands are shown here for the first time since they were discovered in 1568 by Alvaro de Mendaña. On the west coast of North America some new nomenclature appears, 'R. de los estrechos', 'Cab. Mendocino' and 'California'. The most important introductions on the east coast are the Indian name 'WINGANDEKOA', and just to its north an inlet. They both originate from the unsuccessful English attempts at colonising the Outer Banks of present day North Carolina. It has been suggested that the inlet could be the first depiction of Chesapeake Bay on a printed map." (Burden on the third plate). "This plate without a bulge in the west coast of South America [...]. In this plate, there is also additional information on Terra Australis, Solomon Islands and added locations and notes on the west coasts of North and South America. New cartouche in North America." (van den Broecke). "This Ortelius map is regarded by many as the most beautiful map of the Western Hemisphere produced in the sisteenth century. First published in 1570, the above example is from an edition dated 1587 (or later) printed from a re-engraved plate which corrects the coastal outline of South America and includes the Solomon Islands." (Moreland & Bannister). "In the 1587 revision, the name 'Chile' is given to a region along the improved southwestern coastline; in the 1570 version 'Chile' is simply the name of a town. Santiago, founded in 1541, is omitted entirely. Mexico ('Hispania Nova'), Cantral America, and Peru all resemble Gerardus Mercator's much larger world map of 1569. Ortelius, working in a smaller space, has had to put a list of Peruvian cities, keyed to numbers dotted near Cuzco, in emptier Patagonia. The South American rivers are like Mercator's, with the Amazon snaking its way across the continent and the width of the island-clotted Rio de la Plata exaggerated." (Tooley & Bricker). Burden 64 and 39. Van den Broecke 11. Koeman Ort map 114. Humphreys p66. Wolff 109. Tooley & Bricker 204. Baynton-Williams p45. Quirino p76. GUARANTEE We do not sell reproductions. We guarantee that this is a genuine and original antique map that was published on or near the given date. A certificate of authentication is provided on request. Price € 5500 Antique Maps Leen Helmink