Condition Description
Folio. Contemporary Flemish limp vellum, covers ruled in gilt with foliate tools in gilt in the corners, circular strapwork gilt tool in the centers; spine in six compartments separated by barely-raised bands and gilt rules, diamond floriate tools in each, early ink title on the spine vertically: "Speculum orbis terre cornelis de Jude 1593" and "106" at the base (vermin damage to the two edges of the vellum, particularly in the lower-right corner of the front cover.) Collation: [Early manuscript contents leaf titled: "[Christogram] Speculom orbis terre Index Tabular Cosmographicarum" with maps corresponding to manuscript numbering throughout the book], [Engraved title, i.e., 32:2A], [π2], 🙥2, [🙥1] (bound after 🙥2, as in the Leiden UB example), *-[****2], A-C, D2, E-I, KK2, L-Z, AA-KK; [Engraved title for "Germania Geographicis Tabulis Illustrata", i.e., 32:2B], Bb-Dd, Dd[2], Ee-Zz, Aaa-Qqq, Zzz (intended as Rrr but misprinted, as always), Sss-Zzz, Aaaa-Ffff, [Censor's authorization, dated: "Antverpiae, Anno MDXCIII"], [blank], ["Catalogus Authorum"], ["Index Tabularum Quae in Hoc primo Volumine Cotinentur."] Two engraved titles, text leaves, and 83 engraved maps. Complete. (Heavy worming to the manuscript contents leaf, less so to the title, and ceasing after the third leaf; small vermin damage ot the lower-right corner of the leaves ceasing after A; the title with incomplete erasure of an early monogram in the lower right, which curiously appears as if it were engraved, though no such monogram is present in other examples of the title; map "Italia Totius...", i.e., 7000:32, misprinted with the right neatline and a small part of the image running off of the right edge; "Nova Et Integra Caenomaniae Descriptio...", i.e., 4430:32, with a clean marginal tear on the right side of the centerfold; "Svevia", i.e., 2600:32, printed at an angle so the lower-left corner of the image touches the bottom-left edge of the sheet; 19th- or 20th-century French pencil manuscript on back pastedown: "Aucun ex[ample] complete depuis plus de 20 ans" [Not another complete example in the last 20 years].) Altogether unsophisticated.
Gerard de Jode Biography
Gerard De Jode (1509-1591) was a pre-eminent mapmaker in the late seventeenth century, a time when the Dutch dominated the map trade. He was known for his many maps, some of which featured in Speculum Orbis Terrae (first edition Antwerp: 1578). Although never as successful as Ortelius’ Theatrum, the Speculum did get republished in a second edition in 1593, two years after De Jode’s death, by Arnold Coninx, and included this map. After his death, Gerard’s son, Cornelis (1568-1600), and his wife, Paschina, ran the shop. Unfortunately, Cornelis died young in 1600, aged only 32, and the stock and plates were sold to the publisher Joan Baptista Vrients.
