Europa - Frankreich / Belgien / Luxemburg / Deutschland / Schweiz / Italien / Spanien; Abraham Ortelius / Jean Jolivet - Galliae Regno Potentiss Nova Descriptio Ioanne Ioliveto Auctore - 1581-1600

HIGHLY DECORATIVE MAP OF FRANCE AND PART OF BELGIUM, LUXEMBOURG, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, ITALY AND SPAIN by Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598). Original hand coloured copper engraving in very good condition, taken directly from the original volumes, with wide and original margins, no particular cuts or defects to report, normal signs of aging, strong heavy paper with chain lines and a watermark as the photos show. This beautiful map depicts FRANCE AND NEIGHBOR COUNTRIES INCLUDING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, MEDITERRANEAN SEA, ENGLISH CHANNEL, PYRENEES MOUNTAINS AND THE ALPS, as it was known in the 1570’s. This is the French edition of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum with French text on verso. According to Dr. Marcel van den Broecke, Jean Jolivet (circa 1500-1569) cartographer to Frances II (1544-1560) King of France, made a four-sheet woodcut map of France which went through various editions from 1560 onwards, and which was often copied, as in this case by Abraham Ortelius.

Title: Galliae Regno Potentiss Nova Descriptio Ioanne Ioliveto Auctore. [A New Description of the Most Powerful Kingdom of Gaul by the Author Jean Jolivet (circa 1500-1569)]. Published in Antwerp by Plantin Press in 1587, and in only 250 copies as claimed by Dr. Marcel van den Broecke (Cartographica Neerlandica).

Size & Description: Height 430 x Width 564 mm (16.9 x 22.2 inches). Centre fold as published. Original intact and wide margins. The map is in very good condition with beautiful colours and minor signs of age and use, with intact margins, the laid paper is watermarked with a coat of arms and a crown. Very detailed map including mountains, rivers, towns, cities and rich in precious decorations: at the bottom left the symbol of the crown of France with the 3 lilies, at the top the title of the map and the author's name, at the top right a richly decorated cartouche with a celebratory description of France. Rare decorative map of France and part of Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain from Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas of the world.

References: Van den Broecke Ort 34; Koeman/Meurer: 9; Karrow: 1/14; Van der Krogt AN: 4000:31A.

Author/Cartographer: Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World). Along with Gemma Frisius and Gerardus Mercator, Ortelius is generally considered one of the founders of the Netherlandish school of cartography and geography. He was a notable figure of this school in its golden age (approx. 1570s–1670s) and an important geographer of Spain during the age of discovery. The publication of his atlas in 1570 is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography. He was the first person proposing that the continents were joined before drifting to their present positions.

Author/Cartographer: Jean Jolivet (circa 1500-1569), was a French priest and cartographer. Nothing biographically is known of the man, except that he was a cartographer to Frances II, King of France from 1559 to 1560. In 1545 he produced a six-sheet printed map of Berry which is now known in a single copy. His map of France, a woodcut on four sheets, was printed in 1560; this issue was also only known in a single survival, but this is now lost. However this, and the area maps of Bourges, Normandy and Picardy, were at one time well known and provided the source for maps of those regions by Ortelius and De Jode.

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