Title of the map : 

"INSULAR ALIQUOT AEGAEI MARIS DESCRIP. Ex Conatibus geographicis Abrahami Ortelij Antwerpiani"

"RHENIA - ICARIA - EVBOEA - SAMVS - CEOS - RHODVS - CHIOS - CYPRVS"

Large and nice antique copper engraved sheet of 10 insets centered on a large map of Cyprus, by Abraham ORTELIUS (1527-1598).  

The map of Cyprus presents place names and their locations updated based on ancient sources, including Ptolemy and Strabo. 

The map is surrounded by 9 smaller maps of Greek Islands: Chios, Rhodes, Icaria, Rinia & Delos, Evia (Euboea), Samos, Kea, Lesbos, and Limnos.

From the famous "Parergon Theatri" edited in the Terrarum Orbis Theatrum. 

Approximate number of copies printed: 1025 (ref. Van der Broecke cartographica neerlandica).

Edition: Antwerp, 1624, 17th century

Verso text: Latin 

Size of the map with margins: 53,6 x 46 cm / 20,8 x 18,1 inches

Condition: very good condition, two very ink spots in the Cyprus title, handed colored, strong paper, large real margins

Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) is the inventor of the first Atlas. He is the greatest and the best geographe and cartographe. Abraham Ortelius began his career as a colorist with Christophe Plantin, a printer in Antwerp. He was a cartographer and an humanist. He became a friend of the house and one of the great authors attached to the Plantin-Moretus printing house, were the majority of the atlases were printed at this period. 

Antwerp is in the sixteenth century one of the largest cities in Europe and a major cultural and artistic center. The printing press is flourishing and the Officinia Plantinia or the Compas d'Or, the publishing house founded by Christophe Plantin, is one of the most important and sells books throughout Europe. With 16 presses and 80 employees, it offers an impressive catalogue of various books and maps.

Above all, Ortelius forged a reputation as the inventor of the modern atlas: in 1570, he was the first to collect a series of maps of identical format and style, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. He achieved this thanks to his vast knowledge and his numerous contacts with scholars throughout Europe, a few years before his contemporaries Gerard de Jode and Gerard Mercator also published an atlas.

1570, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of Ortelius is the first atlas printed in the modern sense of the word; it is published in Latin in Antwerp. The book includes 53 maps, works by different authors, classified from general to particular. 

On the verso of each map, a text exposes the knowledge of the represented region. The success was immediate and translations from latin to French, German or Dutch were quickly published. When it was published in 1570, this work was the first to compile all known world maps in the same format. It is a huge success despite its high price (it is reputed to be the most expensive book of its century). It will know 42 editions in 7 languages until its last posthumous publications in 1612. 

The Parergon atlas is an atlas depicting the ancient world. Parergon means supplementary and, accordingly, the first three Parergon maps were published as supplements to the 1579 edition of the Theatrum. Successive editions of the Theatrum were supplemented with more Parergon maps, and there are 55 known plates overall. The Parergon was also published as its own atlas separate from the Theatrum on two occasions, once in 1595 and again in 1624. The Parergon was highly successful both as a supplement to the Theatrum and on its own. It was variously translated into French, German, Italian, and English and regularly printed until 1612. 

A Certification of Authenticity can be issued on request.

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WE DON'T SELL LASER AND COPIES MAPS, ALL WE SELL IS ORIGINAL AND ANTIQUE.

Due to the age an type of paper, some imperfections are to be expected. Please examine the images provided carefully, and if you have any questions please ask and we will be happy to help you.