Abraham Ortelius — Magnificent Hand-Colored Map of Artois, France, circa 1579–1603
ATREBATUM REGIONIS VERA DESCRIPTIO
A beautifully detailed original map of the historic region of Artois by Abraham Ortelius, one of the greatest cartographers of the Renaissance and creator of the celebrated Theatrum Orbis Terrarum—widely recognized as the first modern atlas.
Published in Antwerp during the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, this copperplate engraving presents the strategically important country between the English Channel and the Spanish Netherlands. Its remarkable geographic detail extends from Calais, Boulogne and Abbeville eastward through Arras, Saint-Omer, Béthune and Lens to Lille and Cambrai.
Hundreds of cities, villages, churches, forests, rivers and roads fill the landscape. Calais, Lille, Cambrai and other fortified cities are shown through tiny individualized architectural symbols. The map is further distinguished by an elaborate Renaissance title cartouche and a magnificent ornamental scale cartouche incorporating scrollwork, drapery and a classical mask.
Ortelius’s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, first published in 1570, transformed European mapmaking by assembling uniformly engraved maps into a systematic description of the known world. Its elegant cartography and decorative presentation established a model followed by atlas publishers for generations.
This example retains attractive old hand coloring in red, green, yellow, blue and rose. The impression remains strong and sharply defined, with generous surrounding margins. Expected age toning, scattered spotting, center-fold discoloration and minor marginal wear are present, consistent with a map more than four centuries old.
A handsome and highly displayable Renaissance map documenting northern France at a time when Artois occupied a contested frontier between France and the Habsburg Netherlands.
Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598)
Atrebatum Regionis Vera Descriptio
Antwerp, circa 1579–1603
Original copperplate engraving on laid paper with old hand coloring
From Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
ATREBATUM REGIONIS VERA DESCRIPTIO
A beautifully detailed original map of the historic region of Artois by Abraham Ortelius, one of the greatest cartographers of the Renaissance and creator of the celebrated Theatrum Orbis Terrarum—widely recognized as the first modern atlas.
Published in Antwerp during the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, this copperplate engraving presents the strategically important country between the English Channel and the Spanish Netherlands. Its remarkable geographic detail extends from Calais, Boulogne and Abbeville eastward through Arras, Saint-Omer, Béthune and Lens to Lille and Cambrai.
Hundreds of cities, villages, churches, forests, rivers and roads fill the landscape. Calais, Lille, Cambrai and other fortified cities are shown through tiny individualized architectural symbols. The map is further distinguished by an elaborate Renaissance title cartouche and a magnificent ornamental scale cartouche incorporating scrollwork, drapery and a classical mask.
Ortelius’s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, first published in 1570, transformed European mapmaking by assembling uniformly engraved maps into a systematic description of the known world. Its elegant cartography and decorative presentation established a model followed by atlas publishers for generations.
This example retains attractive old hand coloring in red, green, yellow, blue and rose. The impression remains strong and sharply defined, with generous surrounding margins. Expected age toning, scattered spotting, center-fold discoloration and minor marginal wear are present, consistent with a map more than four centuries old.
A handsome and highly displayable Renaissance map documenting northern France at a time when Artois occupied a contested frontier between France and the Habsburg Netherlands.
Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598)
Atrebatum Regionis Vera Descriptio
Antwerp, circa 1579–1603
Original copperplate engraving on laid paper with old hand coloring
From Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
