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Details
ABRAHAM ORTELIUS (1527-1598)
Theatrum orbis terrarum. [Antwerp: Christopher Plantin, 1595]. 3 parts in one volume, 2° (455 x 295mm). Text in Latin. Engraved allegorical title and full-page portrait of Ortelius, woodcut architectural border to Parergon title and large woodcut printer's device to Nomenclator Ptolemaicus title. 150 engraved maps on 147 bifolia, all but 49, 50 and 55 double-page, fully hand-coloured in a later hand, the titles, device and portrait heightened in gold and silver, numerous coloured ornamental woodcut initials and tailpieces, mounted on guards throughout. (Occasional light, unobtrusive surface soiling or offsetting of colour or glue, neatly repaired marginal tears to maps 44 and 66.) Contemporary [?English] gilt-tooled panelled calf over pasteboard, the boards with arabesque centrepieces within gilt- and blind-tooled panels with gilt fleuron cornerpieces, gilt- and blind-tooled fillet borders, the spine gilt in compartments, yellow edges (some light scuffing and staining, rebacked retaining original spine, lacking ties), later slipcase.
A FINE COLOURED COPY OF THE THEATRUM IN A CONTEMPORARY BINDING. Only the Nomenclator of the 1595 edition is dated, printed by Plantin who took over the publication of Ortelius's landmark atlas in 1579. Considerably improved and enlarged since the first edition of 1570, this edition incorporates the maps of the Additamentum V, amounting to 115 numbered maps and 32 maps and views within the Parergon, the atlas of ancient geography. Amongst the amendments to this edition are the maps of ancient Britain and Egypt. Formerly printed on two sheets each, they were replaced by new maps in this edition, each on one sheet. Koeman III Ort 29.
Theatrum orbis terrarum. [Antwerp: Christopher Plantin, 1595]. 3 parts in one volume, 2° (455 x 295mm). Text in Latin. Engraved allegorical title and full-page portrait of Ortelius, woodcut architectural border to Parergon title and large woodcut printer's device to Nomenclator Ptolemaicus title. 150 engraved maps on 147 bifolia, all but 49, 50 and 55 double-page, fully hand-coloured in a later hand, the titles, device and portrait heightened in gold and silver, numerous coloured ornamental woodcut initials and tailpieces, mounted on guards throughout. (Occasional light, unobtrusive surface soiling or offsetting of colour or glue, neatly repaired marginal tears to maps 44 and 66.) Contemporary [?English] gilt-tooled panelled calf over pasteboard, the boards with arabesque centrepieces within gilt- and blind-tooled panels with gilt fleuron cornerpieces, gilt- and blind-tooled fillet borders, the spine gilt in compartments, yellow edges (some light scuffing and staining, rebacked retaining original spine, lacking ties), later slipcase.
A FINE COLOURED COPY OF THE THEATRUM IN A CONTEMPORARY BINDING. Only the Nomenclator of the 1595 edition is dated, printed by Plantin who took over the publication of Ortelius's landmark atlas in 1579. Considerably improved and enlarged since the first edition of 1570, this edition incorporates the maps of the Additamentum V, amounting to 115 numbered maps and 32 maps and views within the Parergon, the atlas of ancient geography. Amongst the amendments to this edition are the maps of ancient Britain and Egypt. Formerly printed on two sheets each, they were replaced by new maps in this edition, each on one sheet. Koeman III Ort 29.
Provenance
Edwarde Pytt 1598 (ownership inscription in ink on title, recording price of 'vi li').
Michell Shippeard (pen trial on verso of final leaf in an early hand). Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 15 October 1986, lot 80 (to Dreesmann).
Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann (inventory no. Y-8).
Michell Shippeard (pen trial on verso of final leaf in an early hand). Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 15 October 1986, lot 80 (to Dreesmann).
Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann (inventory no. Y-8).
Special notice
Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 20.825% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €90,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €90,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 20.825% of the first €90,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €90,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.