‎ORTELIUS, Abraham :‎
‎Epitome theatri Orteliani, Praecipuarum Orbis Regionum delineationes... Editio ultima, multis locis emendata, & novis aliquot tabulis aucte. . [ Latin edition of 1601, complete with the addenda ].‎

‎" Antverpiae ( Antwerpen ), apud Ioannem Bapt. Vrientium, (typis Henrici Swingenij), 1601, in-8°, oblong format, 118 x 116 mm. (16)nn pp (including title page with globus vignette and on verso full page armorial engraving, celestial globe, world globe, bird's eye view of the Escorial) + 110 leaves (each with a full page map) +(5) nn pp (approbatio, index, blank) + [Additamentum Epitomae...] (2)nn pp + 13 lvs (each with a full page map) + (4)nn pp (index, 3 blank). Absolutely complete copy containing a total of 125 full page maps ( 2 globes in the introduction, 110 in the main work, 13 in the addendum). (Koeman Ortelius item 58 ). Bound in (contemporary ?) supple overlapping vellum, with traces of ties. Binding soiled and with some stains, also a bit warping. Interior fine except for one tear at the left side of the map on pp. Q3 (where the edge of the plate struck the paper, but no loss of paper). Exceptionally fine and complete copy in a first, original binding. On the title page a manucript ex-libris ''Conventus barroducae Carm[litum]..(?) ''. On the first paste down an unidentified engraved armorial book plate (two dogs holding a scutcheon. In the top a double headed eagle, beneath a wooden ladder; on top of the scutcheon a crowned helmet). Ortelius published the first atlas ever in 1570 : ''Theatrum Orbis Terrarum''. This was a very expensive item. In 1588 Philip Galle published an ''epitome'' (or abridgement) in pocket format which consisted of only 96 maps. Between 1588 and 1600 maps were renewed, replaced and added. Upon the death of Cornelis de Jode in 1600 Vriendts acquired the plates and published this edition with an extra 13 maps of which plate 12 depicts the island of Japan. This one of the earliest Western maps of Japan.."‎

Reference : 53802

‎‎