1 : 2000000
Description
This is a beautiful strike of Gerhard Mercator s map of Iceland, included by Jodocus Hondius and his heirs in their
Atlas sive Cosmographicae. It is the second map of Iceland to appear in a modern atlas, and the second map overall of Iceland based on data originating from an Icelander, placing it among the first accurate maps of the island. Mercator s map first appeared in 1595, only five years after Abraham Ortelius famous map; both maps shared the same ultimate source: Guðbrandur Þorláksson, Bishop of Holar.
SourcesIt is not known if Mercator received this map from Ortelius (the two were friends, so this is possible) but since the map is not a copy of the Ortelius either in detail or decor, it seems unlikely. Mercator s source may, as with Ortelius, have been Danish scholar Anders Sørensen Vedel; a third source, Henrik Rantzau, is also possible. Rantzau was both a politician and a considerable scholar, with whom Mercator is known to have c
1570 (undated)
1 : 20000000
Description
A richly-colored example of Ortelius seminal map of Tartary, this is one of the first maps to focus on the North Pacific. While the map is primarily intended to detail Asia as dominated by the Great Khan, it is also notable for what it shows of America. The map includes what is now the west coast of the United States, northwestern Canada and Alaska, bit was then almost entirely unknown lands. It is the earliest obtainable map to name California. It also displays a strait separating Asia and America - the Strait of Asian - appearing long before the existence of such a strait was proved by discovery. The map is based on a partial conic projection, and depicts from the Black Sea to the Gulf of California, and from the Arctic to southern China, what Europeans then considered the extent of the Tartar Kingdom. In fact, much of the content north of China is mythical or loosely derived from the journals of Marco Polo, the legend
Muscovy-ortelius-1570
$2,500.00
Title
Russiae, Moscoviae et Tartariae Descriptio. Auctore Antonio Ienkensono Anglo, edita Londini Anno. 1562 et dedicata illustriss: D. Henrico Sÿdneo Wallie presidi.
1570 (undated)
1 : 12000000
This is a 1601 example of Abraham Ortelius Russia, Moscoviae et Tartariae , the first atlas map of Russia, and the first to be produced based on actual exploration. Its content is based on the travels of English merchant and diplomat Anthony Jenkinson, who visited Russia four times between 1557 and 1571. The map shows the lands revealed by Jenkinson s first voyage which lasted from 1557 to 1560. His map, which was provided to Ortelius, was completed after that voyage, in 1562.
The Map Ortelius map spans from Latvia, Lithuania and the Black Sea in the west to the Ob River and the Syr Darya in the East. The south limits of the map are marked by the Caspian Sea and the Amu Darya River (Oxus, here spelled