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Description

Rare separately published map of the Friesland, engraved in Antwerp by Theodoor Galle, who was then working with the famed Plantijn-Moretus publishing house in Antwerp.

The map is based upon David Fabricius of Esens map of Ostfriesland. Fabricius was a German pastor who made two major discoveries in the early days of telescopic astronomy, jointly with his eldest son, Johannes Fabricius.  Fabricius discovered the first known periodic variable star (as opposed to cataclysmic variables, such as novas and supernovas), Mira, in August 1596. At first he believed it to be "just" another nova, as the whole concept of a recurring variable did not exist at the time. When he saw Mira brighten again in 1609, however, it became clear that a new kind of object had been discovered in the sky.  Two years later, he and his sone noted the existence of sunspots, the first confirmed instance of their observation.

In 1612 Theodoor Galle started planning to publish separately published folio map sheets of the Netherlands and neighboring regions (Gallia, Germania, Palatinate), which could also be combined to create an atlas.  Galle first published a map of Central Netherlands in two sheets, drawn from the copper plates used for the wall map of the Seventeen Provinces of 1605, which had been purchased by the “Officina Plantiniana” after the death of Vrients in 1612.  At the time, as a member of the Plantijn-Moretus publishing house, Galle had both the copper-plates of Ortelius’s Theatrum and those of De Jode’s Speculum available to him.  By the 1620s,  Galle had added his name to 10 maps of the Ortelius copperplates.  The project did not result in a stable atlas with a standard collation, but a few composite atlases are known to exist.

Condition Description
Laid down on a contemporary sheet of paper. Some minor staining and loss.
Theodoor Galle Biography

Dirck or Theodoor Gallewas a Flemish Baroque engraver, who learned the art of engraving from his father Philippe Galle.

Theodoor married Catharina Moerentorff (Moretus), daughter of the prominent printer Jan Moretus and Maertine Plantijn. Maertine was the daughter of the founder of the Plantin Moretus printing house in Antwerp Christophe Plantin. Galle was one of the engravers linked to the Plantin Moretus press.

He became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in 1595, and became deacon in 1609.

He was the teacher of his son Joannes Galle, and the engravers Adriaen Millaert, and Gilles van Schoor. Joannes Galle later became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in 1627, and became deacon in 1638.