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Description

One of the earliest obtainable separately published maps of Mexico, based the work of Abraham Ortelius.

The map is filled with early place names for towns, rivers, mines, mountains, etc. Text at lower right gives information about places numbered on map, text at upper right gives information about the whole country. Both texts are in Latin, with strapwork borders.

Quad's map of Mexico is among the earliest obtainable modern maps of Mexico, which was first mapped by Ruscelli in 1561 and later refined by Ortelius in the following decade. Quad's work is relatively scarce on the market, by comparison to other maps of the late 16th Century, and is packed full of detail and information.

Matthias Quad Biography

Matthias Quad (1557-1613), a map publisher based in Cologne, was trained in the Netherlands by Johannes van Doetecum, who also worked with the De Jodes. Quad used many De Jode maps as a base to which he added additional information and decorations. Quad was best known for his atlases, which were part of the first boom in atlases best characterized by Abraham Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. In 1592, Quad released an atlas of Europe that had 38 maps. He expanded it in 1594 to 50 maps. In 1600, he expanded the collection of maps further still, this time to 82 maps, and called the atlas, Geographisch Handtbuch. All three were small in size, allowing them to compete as cheaper alternatives to the larger atlases of Ortelius, Mercator, and the De Jodes. Quad released one other atlas, in 1608, with 86 maps, the Fascilus Geographicus.