ORTELIUS, A. - Americae Sive Novi Orbis Nova Descriptio.

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Title : Americae Sive Novi Orbis Nova Descriptio..
Map maker : ORTELIUS, A..
Date : London, John Norton, 1606.
Size : 14.0 x 19.3 inches. / 35.5 x 49.1 cm.
Colouring : Coloured.

Description :

In 1587, a new plate was engraved which appeared in editions from 1588 onwards. Of the three maps, this one is perhaps the most important. It is the most geographically advanced one, with the bulge in Chile removed, the Salomon Islands inserted and additional names, including C.Mendocino, added to the north west coast. Furthermore, this is the only one of the three plates which is signed by Ortelius as responsible for the preparation of the map.

From the rare English edition of the Theatrum printed in London in 1606 by John Norton and John Bill, following the Vrients edition of 1603 but with additional mapsheets (more than any other edition in fact). According to Skelton the translator was William Bedwell (1561-1632). It seems most likely that in an almost unique transaction for the period the sheets were printed on one side only in Antwerp and dispatched to England where Bedwell's text was added. Koeman notes that the English Ortelius was printed in a very small edition and not sold through the Plantin press, and that even loose sheets are very scarce.