Franciae Orientalis (vulgo Franckenlant) Descriptio / Monasteriensis et Osnaburgensis...

Antique map of Franconia and the Münsterland by A. Ortelius. Two maps on one sheet. The right map shows the Münsterland with parts of Lower Saxony between Oldenburg and the Lippe river. In the west to Bocholt, in the east to Diepholz. With Münster in the center. Above a title cartouche. The left map shows Franconia between Nuremberg and Coburg and from Kulmbach to Frankfurt. With Würzburg, Aschaffenburg and Kitzingen in the centre. The map is oriented to the west. Bottom right, a title cartouche. From a Spanish edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum from 1609-41. Spanish text on verso.

Minor browning. Very good condition.

Abraham Ortelius was born 1527 in Antwerp. He studied mathematics, Greek and Latin and travelled a lot across Europe. He established a business in dealing with books and drawing maps. His first remarkable map was a 8 sheet world map in the year 1564, but only three copies have survived. In 1570 he issued the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern Atlas with uniformly sized maps in a systematic collection. The term Atlas was not used until Mercator introduced it 20 years later. Most of the maps in Theatrum have been engraved by Frans Hogenberg. At the time of publication, the atlas was the most expensive book ever printed. Nevertheless it was a big success and around 7000 copies have been printed until 1612 in many editions and six different languages. Beside the Theatrum, Ortelius compiled a series of historical maps and published it in the Parergon Theatri which was bound with the Theatrum from 1579 onwards or published separately.