Lot Details
Lot 91
ORTELIUS, ABRAHAM Africae Tabula Nova.
Antwerp: dated 1570 [but circa 1573]. Engraved map with hand-coloring. Latin text on verso. Neatlines 14 3/4 x 19 7/8 inches (37.5 x 50.5 cm) with wider margins; matted and framed. The central fold strengthened on verso.
A cornerstone map of Africa in which Ortelius' drew upon Gastaldi, Mercator, and Forlani. In the map, the source of the Nile is two large unnamed lakes south of the equator. Unlike earlier maps, Ortelius has here removed the Ptolemaic "mountains on the moon," reduced the eastern bulge of the continent, and provided a distinct point to the Cape of Good Hope. In the lower right corner, a sea battle was copied from Diego Gutierez' wall map of the Americas. The map was published in a circa 1575 Latin edition of Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, considered the first modern atlas.
C
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