MIDDLE
EAST ARABIA
Ortelius, Abraham. (1527-1598) TURCICI IMPERII
DESRIPTIO, 1579. Copper engraving 49,5 x 37,5 cms. Original coloured by a contemporary hand. Paper size
52,5 x 40,5 cm, strong and thickness paper. The first issued of this map, from the Latin
text edition of Ortelius Theatrum Orbis Terrarum 1579 [ed.from 1579 to 1641
including this map] printed
by van Diest, Antwerp. A
excellent condition and very attractive example of this important map
from the first issue,
slightly oxidation of the verdigris (green) paint on lower left part. Reference: Van den Broecke, Ortelius Atlas Maps 168.
Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici III:92. Tibbets, Arabia in Early Maps
(42).
This is the best know of all the sixteenth-century maps of the Middle East, the Turkish Empire which is shown stretching from Tripoli in Northern Africa to the very outskirts of Vienna. Ortelius atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum , the first regularly produced and uniform format of modern atlas of the World.
An example from a collection of old maps
