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Description

Rare Cornelis De Jode edition of Wolfgang Lazius' map of Austria.

Fine 16th Century map of Austria, extending from Lintz in the west to Gratz and Volkmarkt in the south, Bratislava and the Neusiedler See in the east.

The map is drawn from Wolfgang Lazius' Typi Chorographici Provinciarum Austriae, printed by Michael Zimmermann in Vienna in 1561, which was intended by Lazius to serve as a geographical work to illustrate his Commentarii Rerum Austriacarum, which was never published. Lazius' work is the first printed atlas of Austria.

Lazius' original maps are quite extraordinary, as each is done in a oval or circular frame, mounted against the double-headed Austrian eagle, with wings of the eagle adorned with the coats of arms of each Austrian provinces.

First published in 1578, De Jode's atlas is technically superior to the work of Ortelius. However, Ortelius' ability to produce his atlas first, coupled with his superior commercial connections, probably resulted in his ability to block or delay the issuance of a privilege for publication of De Jode's atlas for nearly a decade. It doomed De Jode's Speculum Orbis Terrae to become a commercial failure, hence the rarity of the maps on the market. A second and expanded edition of the atlas was issued in 1593.