Totius Orbis Cogniti Universalis Descriptio.

According to Rodney Shirley, the map is generally attributed to Marinus of Tyre, with geography based on Mercator and Ortelius, while in the top corners are two smaller maps showing the eastern and western hemispheres on Roger Bacon’s circular projection.

Scarce. The map was engraved by the younger De Jode, Cornelis, in 1589 yet was not published in atlas form until 1593 after the elder De Jode’s death.

There is a note in the lower right-hand corner stating that Corn: de Iudoejs of Antwerp made the map in November 1589 at the Academy of Douai and the printer’s signature is that of Cornelis’ father, Gerard de Jode. Still, the map was not published until two years after his father’s death.

The map includes two hemispherical projections in the upper left and right-hand corners. The Southern Hemisphere is dominated by a vast Terra Australis Incognita, which includes Tierra del Fuego. South America appears in the “potato” form made familiar by Mercator and Ortelius.

North America, delineated much in the same tradition, is heavily speculative: the fictional regions of Anian and Norumbega appear prominently. Legendary cities of wealth such as “Quivira” and “Cevola” (both of which Coronado sought) are also on the map.

Although this map appears to have been plotted on the Mercator Projection, which was introduced in 1569, this is not the case. While a Mercator projection increases latitude near the poles to correct for the Earth’s curvature, lines of latitude remain constant. This projection has been attributed to Marinus of Tyre, a predecessor of Claudius Ptolemy, who developed the idea of meridians and parallels.

Speculum Orbis Terrae

Only one atlas was published by the de Jode family: Speculum Orbis Terrarum issued by Gerard de Jode in 1578, and then re-issued by his son Cornelis in 1593 as Speculum Orbis Terrae. The atlas was not a financial success and no other editions were published. Consequently, all maps by de Jode are quite rare.

Three separate world maps were engraved for the Speculum, each issued only once. The 1578 edition featured a heart-shaped world map by Gerard and the 1593 edition included this map on a rectangular projection by Cornelis, along with a second unsigned double-hemisphere map.

Please Note : The map has been photographed behind glass and some reflection is therefore visible in the image.

Reference: Shirley, World, 165.