Dec 05, 2017 - Sale 2464

Sale 2464 - Lot 187

Price Realized: $ 16,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 10,000 - $ 15,000
PLANCIUS, PETRUS. Orbis Terrarum Typus de Integro Multis in Locis Emendatus. Engraved double-hemispheric world map on two sheets joined. 16 1/2x24 1/2 inches sheet size, left and right margins wide, upper and lower short but untrimmed with deckle edges; issued folding now flat, small repaired tear at center above lower celestial sphere and other minor closed marginal tears, printer's crease in eastern hemisphere. A superb uncolored example. Amsterdam, 1594

Additional Details

An important sixteenth-century world map noted for its updated cartography and attractive design. The hemispheres are based on Plancius' own world map of 1590 (preceding lot.) Here Plancius incorporates new depictions of several regions, particularly the East Indies which is one of the best of the period, Korea is shown as a peninsula for the first time on a printed map as opposed to an island, and a remodeled Japan is based on the Portuguese manuscripts of Luis Teixeira.

The elaborate pictorial decoration surrounding the spheres is the first appearance of this type of ornamentation on a folio world map and one that "established a pattern of cartographical decoration that lasted over a century" (Shirley.) Female figures allegorically symbolizing Europe, Asia, Africa, Mexicana, Peruviana and Magallanica appear in the borders incorporating landscapes, regional riches and vignettes of war. Exotic animals such as elephants, camels, a giraffe, rhinoceros, giant armadillo and even a unicorn flush out the rich embellishment. The whole is magnificently brought to life by the skillful engraving of Jan van Doetecum, who signed the plate under the figure at lower left. Shirley 187.