Ortelius | Theatrum orbis terrarum... The Theatre of the Whole World, 1606

ORTELIUS, ABRAHAM

Theatrum orbis terrarum... The Theatre of the Whole World. London: for John Norton (and John Bill), 1606 (colophon: 1608)

FIRST AND ONLY EDITION IN ENGLISH, folio (483 x 323mm.), engraved architectural title with the arms of James I on verso, dedication with engraved epitaph to Ortelius on verso, full-page portrait of Ortelius within cartouche, separate engraved title to the Parergon, small engraving of a globe printed upside down on verso of colophon leaf, 161 engraved double-page maps (2 maps supplied from a Latin text edition, "Pedemontanae" and "Thvsciae"), some numbered in manuscript, new endpapers, contemporary calf, spine gilt in 8 compartments, both covers with ruled border, foliate corner pieces and central gilt tool, later ties, occasional marginal repairs, restoration or worming, maps and text reguarded throughout, the supplied maps shorter, recased, complete collation and detailed condition report available upon request

A FINE, DARK IMPRESSION OF THIS EXTREMELY RARE ATLAS.

“This folio edition of 1606 was the first 'proper' world atlas to be printed and published in England with English text. It is an interesting atlas from a number of points of view: it had more maps than any other edition of Ortelius, whether before or after, and the book was the largest ever printed and published in England up to that date. No surviving copies are known to exist on the European continent [i.e. excluding copies in the British Isles]” (Wardington Catalogue). The sheets of the entire edition had the plates struck off on one side in Antwerp, most likely by the Plantin Press. The sheets were then sent to London, where the text on the reverse, and the additional pages bearing text only, were printed by Bradwood at the Eliot’s Court Press.

LITERATURE:

ESTC S122301; Koeman III, Ort 37; STC 18855; van der Krogt, 31:551

PROVENANCE:

Sir Sebastian Harvey (d.1621), English merchant and Lord Mayor of London in 1618, early seventeenth-century presentation inscription to title from Richard Wright to Sebastian Harvey, "Clarissimo viro Sebastiano Harvey vicecomiti Londinensi dignissimo; Richardus Wright humilleme D.D."; Colonel George Lyle, seventeenth century inscription to title; H. Bougoüin Sar, bookplate