Ile de France, by Ortelius A. 1612.
Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598)
The maker of the 'first atlas', the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570), was born on 4 April 1527 into an old Antwerp family. He learned Latin and studied Greek and mathematics.
Abraham and his sisters Anne and Elizabeth took up map colouring. He was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke as an "illuminator of maps." Besides colouring maps, Ortelius was a dealer in antiques, coins, maps, and books, with the book and map trade gradually becoming his primary occupation.
Business went well because his means permitted him to start an extensive collection of medals, coins, antiques, and a library of many volumes. In addition, he travelled a lot and visited Italy and France, made contacts everywhere with scholars and editors, and maintained extensive correspondence with them.
In 1564 he published his first map, a large and ambitious world wall map. The inspiration for this map may well have been Gastaldi's large world map. In 1565 he published a map of Egypt and a map of the Holy Land, a large map of Asia followed.
In 1568 the production of individual maps for his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was already in full swing. He completed the atlas in 1569, and in May of 1570, the Theatrum was available for sale. It was one of the most expensive books ever published.
This first edition contained seventy maps on fifty-three sheets. Franciscus Hogenberg engraved the maps.
Later editions included Additamenta (additions), resulting in Ortelius' historical atlas, the Parergon, mostly bound together with the atlas. The Parergon can be called a truly original work of Ortelius, who drew the maps based on his research.
The importance of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum for geographical knowledge in the last quarter of the sixteenth century is difficult to overemphasize. Nothing was like it until Mercator's atlas appeared twenty-five years later. Demand for the Theatrum was remarkable. Some 24 editions appeared during Ortelius's lifetime and another ten after his death in 1598. Editions were published in Dutch, German, French, Spanish, English, and Italian. The number of map sheets grew from 53 in 1570 to 167 in 1612 in the last edition.
In 1577, engraver Philip Galle and poet-translator Pieter Heyns published the first pocket-sized edition of the Theatrum, the Epitome. The work was trendy. Over thirty editions of this Epitome were published in different languages.
L'Isle de France. Parisiensis Agri Descrip.
Item Number: 18788 Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Antique maps > Europe > France
Old, antique map of Ile de France by Ortelius A.
Title: L'Isle de France. Parisiensis Agri Descrip.
Date of the first edition: 1598.
Date of this map: 1612..
Date on map: 1598.
Copper engraving, printed on paper.
Size (not including margins): 375 x 455mm (14.76 x 17.91 inches).
Verso: Italian text.
Condition: Original coloured, excellent.
Condition Rating: A+.
From: Theatro del Mondo di Abrahamo Ortelio. Antwerpen, Plantin Press (J.&B. Moretus), 1612. (Van der Krogt 3, 1:652)
Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598)
The maker of the 'first atlas', the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570), was born on 4 April 1527 into an old Antwerp family. He learned Latin and studied Greek and mathematics.
Abraham and his sisters Anne and Elizabeth took up map colouring. He was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke as an "illuminator of maps." Besides colouring maps, Ortelius was a dealer in antiques, coins, maps, and books, with the book and map trade gradually becoming his primary occupation.
Business went well because his means permitted him to start an extensive collection of medals, coins, antiques, and a library of many volumes. In addition, he travelled a lot and visited Italy and France, made contacts everywhere with scholars and editors, and maintained extensive correspondence with them.
In 1564 he published his first map, a large and ambitious world wall map. The inspiration for this map may well have been Gastaldi's large world map. In 1565 he published a map of Egypt and a map of the Holy Land, a large map of Asia followed.
In 1568 the production of individual maps for his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was already in full swing. He completed the atlas in 1569, and in May of 1570, the Theatrum was available for sale. It was one of the most expensive books ever published.
This first edition contained seventy maps on fifty-three sheets. Franciscus Hogenberg engraved the maps.
Later editions included Additamenta (additions), resulting in Ortelius' historical atlas, the Parergon, mostly bound together with the atlas. The Parergon can be called a truly original work of Ortelius, who drew the maps based on his research.
The importance of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum for geographical knowledge in the last quarter of the sixteenth century is difficult to overemphasize. Nothing was like it until Mercator's atlas appeared twenty-five years later. Demand for the Theatrum was remarkable. Some 24 editions appeared during Ortelius's lifetime and another ten after his death in 1598. Editions were published in Dutch, German, French, Spanish, English, and Italian. The number of map sheets grew from 53 in 1570 to 167 in 1612 in the last edition.
In 1577, engraver Philip Galle and poet-translator Pieter Heyns published the first pocket-sized edition of the Theatrum, the Epitome. The work was trendy. Over thirty editions of this Epitome were published in different languages.
Related items
Lorraine. - Lotharingiae Nova Descriptio. 1612
Lorraine, by Abraham Ortelius.
[Item number: 13689]
Gallia Narbonens [on sheet with] Sabaudiae Ducat. [and] Venuxini Comitatus Nova Descr. 1612.
Languedoc, Savoie, Venaissin, by Ortelius A.
[Item number: 19362]
Burgundiae Comitatus Recentiss. Descriptio. Dno. Ferdinando Lannoyo auctore. 1609
Franche Comté, by Ortelius A.
[Item number: 20401]
Burgundiae Inferioris, que Ducatus Nomine Censetur Des. 1584. 1612
Bourgogne (Duché), by Ortelius A.
[Item number: 20535]
Regionis Biturigum Exactiss: Descriptio per D. Ioannem Calameum [on sheet with:] Limaniae Topographia Gabriele Symoneo Auct. 1612
Berry & Limagne, by Ortelius A.
[Item number: 20719]
Galliae Veteris. 1601
France, by Ortelius A.
[Item number: 21253]
Le Gouvernement de l'Isle de France. 1635
Ile de France, by Willem & Joan Blaeu.
[Item number: 22805]
Touraine. - Turonensis Ducatus et Confinium Galliae Celticae Descriptio 1612
Touraine, by Ortelius A.
[Item number: 22892]
L'Ile de France. Parisiensis Agri Descrip. 1612
Ile de France by Ortelius A.
[Item number: 23050]
Poictou - Pictonum Vicinarum que Regionum Fidiss Descriptio 1598
Poitiers, by Ortelius A.
[Item number: 23104]
Le Gouvernement de L'Isle de France c. 1680
Île de France, by F. De Wit.
[Item number: 24375]
Gubernatio Insulae Franciae, dicisa in Electiones Lutetiae, Augustae Suessionum, Novioduni, Lauduni, Compendii, Bellovaci, Dresiae, Nemursii etc. ... c. 1745
Île de France, by Valk G. & L
[Item number: 25665]
Gallia. 1619
France, by Jodocus Hondius.
[Item number: 28840]
Typus Galliae Veteris. 1640
Ancient France, by Willem Blaeu.
[Item number: 28895]
Le Royaume de France et ses Acquisitions vers les Pays Bas, l'Allemagne, l'Italie et l'Espagne. 1665
France by Nicolas Sanson.
[Item number: 30082]
Galliae Regni Potentiss: Nova Descriptio, Ioanne Ioliveto Auctore. 1584
France, by Abraham Ortelius.
[Item number: 30272]