Vlaanderen – Flandria.; A. Ortelius / G. Mercator – 1579

Description

Een prachtig voorbeeld van Ortelius’ tweede kaart van Vlaanderen. De kaart is uitgevoerd aan de binnenkant van een decoratieve eivormige rand en is één van de meest decoratieve regionale kaarten van Ortelius. Met decoratieve carthouche, wapenschild, windroos, zeilschepen in strijd en een zeemonster. De kaart is gebaseerd op ‘Vlaenderen. Exactissima Flandriae descriptio’, de magnifieke wandkaart door Gerard Mercator uit 1540, een voor die tijd verbazend nauwkeurige kaart.

A stunning example of Ortelius’ second map of Flanders. The map is executed on the inside of a decorative egg-shaped border and is one of the most decorative regional maps of Ortelius. With decorative carhouche, coat of arms, wind rose, sailing ships in battle and a sea monster. The map is based on ‘Vlaenderen. Exactissima Flandriae descriptio’, the magnificent wall map by Gerard Mercator from 1540, an amazingly accurate map for that time.

Details

• Type: carthografische prent
• Volledige titel: Flandria
• Publicatie: 1579, 1e staat
• Techniek: kopergravure met oudtijdse inkleuring
• Carthograaf: Gerardus Mercator
• Tekenaar: Abraham Ortelius
• Graveur: Frans Hogenberg e.a.
• Gepubliceerd in: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Opus nunc denuo ab ipso Auctore recognitum (..). Geographi Regii. door C. Plantijn in Antwerpen
• Afmeting prent:  38.0 x 49.5 cm.
• Afmeting papier: 44.5 x 55.0 cm
• Verso: Latijnse tekst / p.32
• ID: M2200B
• Bron: Van den Broecke 76.1 / Koe III Ort 15A [17]

Conditie: A

Zeer goed, gegeven de leeftijd. Middenvouw als uitgegeven met voldoende marges. Scherpe afdruk met frisse kleuring op stevig papier. Wormgaatje bij de middenvouw, verstevigd aan verso, taperesten zichtbaar.

Very good, given age. Centrefold as issued with adequate margins. Sharp print with bright coloring on sturdy paper. Tiny wormhole at center fold reinforced on verso, tape remnants visible.

Achtergronden

Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598)

Ortelius was een Brabantse geograaf en uitgever uit Antwerpen. Ortelius is samen met Mercator de uitvinder van de wereldatlas. Zijn ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum’ bracht hem grote roem. Belangrijke illustratoren en graveurs als Joris Hoefnagel en Frans Hogenberg waren werkzaam voor hem. In 1573 werd hij benoemd tot geograaf van Philips II. Na Ortelius dood werden de koperplaten gekocht door Jean Baptiste Vrients en de firma Platijn-Moretus.

Abraham Ortelius is perhaps the best known and most frequently collected of all sixteenth-century mapmakers. Ortelius started his career as a map engraver. In 1547 he entered the Antwerp guild of St Luke as afsetter van Karten. In 1560, while traveling with Gerard Mercator he seems to have been attracted towards a career as a scientific geographer. From that point forward, he devoted himself to the compilation his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World), which would become the first modern atlas.

In 1564 he completed his “mappemonde“, an eight-sheet map of the world. The only extant copy of this great map is in the library of the University of Basle. Ortelius also published a map of Egypt in 1565, a plan of Brittenburg Castle on the coast of the Netherlands, and a map of Asia, prior to 1570.

In 1570, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum first appeared in an edition of 53 maps. The Theatrum was the best available summary of 16th-century cartographic knowledge, covering much of the exploration of the world in the century following the discovery of America. Most of the maps in Ortelius Theatrum were drawn from the works of a number of other mapmakers from around the world; a list of 87 authors is given by Ortelius himself.

The broad appeal of the Theatrum saw demand from many consumers who preferred to read the atlas in their local language. Thus, in addition to Latin, the book was published with text in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and English.

By the time of his death in 1598, a total of 25 editions were published including editions in Latin, Italian, German, French, and Dutch. Later editions would also be issued in Spanish and English by Ortelius’ successors, Vrients and Plantin, the former adding a number of maps to the atlas, the final edition of which was issued in 1612. Most of the maps in Ortelius Theatrum were drawn from the works of a number of other mapmakers from around the world; a list of 87 authors is given by Ortelius himself

After Ortelius’s death in 1598, the copper plates for his atlas passed to his heirs. They, in turn, sold the collection to Jan Baptist Vrients (1522-1612) in 1601. Vrients added new maps and published the atlas until his death in 1612. Vrients’s widow then sold the plates to the Moretus brothers, who were the successors of Christoffel Plantin.

In 1573, Ortelius published seventeen supplementary maps under the title of Additamentum Theatri Orbis Terrarum. In 1575 he was appointed geographer to the king of Spain, Philip II, on the recommendation of Arias Montanus, who vouched for his orthodoxy (his family, as early as 1535, had fallen under suspicion of Protestantism). In 1578 he laid the basis of a critical treatment of ancient geography with his Synonymia geographica (issued by the Plantin press at Antwerp and republished as Thesaurus geographicus in 1596). In 1584 he issued his Nomenclator Ptolemaicus, a Parergon (a series of maps illustrating ancient history, sacred and secular.) Late in life, he also aided Welser in his edition of the Peutinger Table in 1598.

Gerardus Mercator (1512 – 1594)

Gerardus Mercator was een Vlaamse cartograaf, instrumentmaker en graveur. Hij paste als eerste een hoekgetrouwe kaartprojectie toe, later naar hem Mercatorprojectie genoemd. Hij introduceerde het woord atlas. Gaspard van der Heyden liet Mercator de koperplaten voor de nieuwe aard- en hemelglobe van Gemma Frisius graveren. Deze beide werken, die omstreeks 1537 verschenen, zijn de oudst bekende van Mercator. In 1552 verhuisde hij naar Duisburg. In 1569 maakt Mercator zijn meesterwerk: Nova et aucta orbis terræ descriptio (..). Een grote wandkaart van de wereld in 21 bladen met een totaalformaat van 134 x 212 cm. In 1578 bracht hij zijn Ptolemaeus-uitgave uit. Mercator beschouwde deze uitgave van 28 Ptolemaische als een weergave van de wereld naar de ideeën van de klassieke schrijvers. In 1585 brengt hij zijn Tabulae Geographicae uit in Duisburg, de Mercator atlas in drie delen.

Gerardus Mercator was a Flemish cartographer, instrument maker and engraver. He was the first to apply an accurate map projection, later called Mercator projection after him. He introduced the word atlas. Gaspard van der Heyden assigned Mercator to engrave the copper plates for Gemma Frisius’s new earth and celestial globe. These two works, which appeared around 1537, are Mercator’s oldest known. In 1552 he moved to Duisburg. In 1569 Mercator creates his masterpiece: Nova et aucta orbis terræ descriptio (..). A large wall map of the world in 21 sheets with a total size of 134 x 212 cm. In 1578 he published his Ptolemy edition. Mercator saw this publication of 28 Ptolemaic maps as a representation of the world according to the ideas of the classical writers. In 1585 he published his Tabulae Geographicae in Duisburg, the Mercator atlas in three volumes.