HOLSATIAE DESCRIPTIO / RUGIAE, USEDOMIAE ET IULINAE

Key Properties

Edition: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (double-map plate)

Language: Latin (text on verso)

Collation & Technical Description

Hand-coloured copper engraving. Plates approx. 30.5 × 24.7 cm and 30.5 × 19.6 cm; frame approx. 66 × 74.5 cm. Holstein with Rügen, Usedom and Wolin; the right-hand map with a sailing ship and sea monster. Van den Broecke 89 (Koeman Ort 41).

Condition

The impression and colouring appear attractive. A light frame line from framing is visible or noted. The verso and mounting cannot be inspected.

References & Bibliography

Van den Broecke 89.

Double plate: Holsatiae Descriptio (after Marco Jordan) and Rugiae, Usedomiae et Iulinae...; first issued 1584.

Description

This original double-map sheet from Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum combines a map of Holstein with a map of Rügen, Usedom and Wolin on the Baltic coast.

The right-hand map carries attractive maritime detail, including a sailing ship and a sea monster. Regionally the sheet is of interest to North German and Baltic collectors, though the international market is more limited than for Ortelius maps of England or Cyprus.

The stated Hamburg provenance fits the North German subject well.

Notable features: Two regional maps on one Ortelius sheet; North German and maritime subject; Provenance: Deutsche Shipping Collection, Hamburg.

Historical Significance

A finely engraved regional double map from Ortelius's Theatrum, the first modern atlas.

Provenance

Deutsche Shipping Collection, Hamburg.