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Fine original color example of these two regional maps by Ortelius, from his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern Atlas.
These maps provide a detailed depiction of the Tirol region in the Alps and the areas encompassing Carniola, Istria, and the surrounding territories in what is now Slovenia and parts of Croatia and Italy.
The map on the left, Rhetiae alpestris descriptio in qua hodie Tirolis Comitatus, represents the region of Tirol in the Alps. This area, rich in mountainous terrain, is depicted with significant topographical detail, showcasing the rugged landscape typical of the Alps. The map outlines various towns, rivers, and notable mountain ranges.
Key geographical features include the Brenner Pass (Brenner), an important alpine pass that has historically served as a crucial route through the mountains, connecting Northern and Southern Europe. The map also illustrates important rivers such as the Inn and the Adige, which flow through the region, enhancing its agricultural and commercial significance.
The cities of Innsbruck and Trento are marked prominently, reflecting their historical importance as centers of trade and governance in the region. The intricate depiction of valleys and peaks highlights the challenging yet picturesque terrain of Tirol, making it a valuable map for understanding the geographical complexities of the area.
The map on the right, Goritiae, Karstii, Chaczeolae, Carniolae, Histriae, et Windorum Marchae Descrip., covers a region extending from present-day Slovenia to parts of Croatia and Italy, including the historical regions of Carniola, Istria, and the Windic March.
This map is notable for its depiction of the Adriatic coastline, with detailed renderings of peninsulas, bays, and islands. Prominent geographical features include the Istrian Peninsula, marked by its rugged coastline and significant ports such as Trieste (Tergeste). The map also highlights the interior regions, with cities like Ljubljana (Labacum) and Karlovac (Carolstadt), important for their strategic and economic roles in the historical region of Carniola.
The inclusion of the Karst Plateau (Karstii) indicates the distinctive geological features of the area, known for its limestone formations and unique topography. The map also shows the intricate network of rivers and roads that facilitated trade and movement across these regions.
Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (or "Theater of the World") is widely considered to be the first modern atlas, meaning that this was the first published set of uniform maps with supporting text gathered in book form. Previous bound map collections exist, for example the Italian Lafreri atlases, but these were sets of maps selected and bound together on demand. The Theatrum, in contrast, was the best available summary of sixteenth-century cartographic knowledge, covering much of the exploration of the world in the century following the discovery of America.
The atlas was first published in 1570 in Antwerp. Ortelius’ atlas outperformed later competing atlases from other cartographic luminaries like the De Jode and the Mercator families. The broad appeal of the work is demonstrated by the array of languages in which the atlas appeared: in addition to Latin, the atlas was published with text in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and English. Between 1570 and 1612, at least 31 editions of the atlas were published in seven languages. The editions grew over time, with the first edition having 70 maps on 53 sheets, and the 1612 edition having 167.
At the time of its publication, the Theatrum was the most expensive book ever produced. Ortelius created all the maps personally, hand drawing the rough sketches. Those drawings were then interpreted into prints by his engravers Frans Hogenberg, Ambrosius Arsenius, and Ferdinand Arsenius.
After Ortelius's death in 1598, the copper plates for his atlas passed to his heirs. They, in turn, sold the collection to Jan Baptist Vrients (1522-1612) in 1601. Vrients added new maps and published the atlas until his own death in 1612. Vrients's widow then sold the plates to the Moretus brothers, who were the successors of Christoffel Plantin. Recent research has unearthed examples of the atlas with maps dated to 1640.
Abraham Ortelius is perhaps the best known and most frequently collected of all sixteenth-century mapmakers. Ortelius started his career as a map colorist. In 1547 he entered the Antwerp guild of St Luke as afsetter van Karten. His early career was as a business man, and most of his journeys before 1560, were for commercial purposes. In 1560, while traveling with Gerard Mercator to Trier, Lorraine, and Poitiers, he seems to have been attracted, largely by Mercator’s influence, towards a career as a scientific geographer. From that point forward, he devoted himself to the compilation of his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World), which would become the first modern atlas.
In 1564 he completed his “mappemonde", an eight-sheet map of the world. The only extant copy of this great map is in the library of the University of Basel. Ortelius also published a map of Egypt in 1565, a plan of Brittenburg Castle on the coast of the Netherlands, and a map of Asia, prior to 1570.
On May 20, 1570, Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum first appeared in an edition of 70 maps. By the time of his death in 1598, a total of 25 editions were published including editions in Latin, Italian, German, French, and Dutch. Later editions would also be issued in Spanish and English by Ortelius’ successors, Vrients and Plantin, the former adding a number of maps to the atlas, the final edition of which was issued in 1612. Most of the maps in Ortelius' Theatrum were drawn from the works of a number of other mapmakers from around the world; a list of 87 authors is given by Ortelius himself
In 1573, Ortelius published seventeen supplementary maps under the title of Additamentum Theatri Orbis Terrarum. In 1575 he was appointed geographer to the king of Spain, Philip II, on the recommendation of Arias Montanus, who vouched for his orthodoxy (his family, as early as 1535, had fallen under suspicion of Protestantism). In 1578 he laid the basis of a critical treatment of ancient geography with his Synonymia geographica (issued by the Plantin press at Antwerp and republished as Thesaurus geographicus in 1596). In 1584 he issued his Nomenclator Ptolemaicus, a Parergon (a series of maps illustrating ancient history, sacred and secular). Late in life, he also aided Welser in his edition of the Peutinger Table (1598).
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