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1579 / 1595 Ortelius Map of Picardy, France
Picardy-ortelius-1579$300.00
Title
Picardiae Belgicae regionis descriptio.
1579 (dated) 13 x 20 in (33.02 x 50.8 cm) 1 : 350000
1579 (dated) 13 x 20 in (33.02 x 50.8 cm) 1 : 350000
Description
A beautiful example, in superb original color, of Abraham Ortelius' 1579 map of Picardy, the first map of that area in an atlas. The map focuses on the Somme River valley. Amiens, chief city of the region, St. Quentin and La Fere are given particular emphasis. Ortelius' cartouche and scales are embellished with elegant strapwork frames. This specific example is from a 1595 edition of the atlas, and is radiant with the hand color of that period.
The present example is the second state of the map, which is distinct from the 1579 first state by the presence of a number of changes, most notable in the correction in the course of the river Évoissons (flowing into Amiens from the southwest, just to the upper right hand of the cartouche) including the addition of several cities, such as Contre and Fleury. These changes were made sometime between 1584 and 1587; at some point after the 1579 publication of the first issue of this map, errors in Surhon's mapping were brought to Ortelius' attention, and amended.
The Source
Ortelius was a keen surveyor of cartographic sources, in this case sourcing his cartography from an unpublished 1557 map by Jean de Surhon. De Surhon produced his map the year in which Picardy was invaded by Habsburg forces under the command of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy during the so-called Italian War between France and the Holy Roman Empire. The campaigns in Picardy would be marked by pronounced Habsburg victories, in particular that of the Battle of Saint-Quentin. Therefore at the time Surhon's map was produced, Picardy was not so much part of France (Gallia) as it was part of The Habsburg Netherlands (Belgica). The 1559 Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, would return St. Quentin and the lands of the Somme to the French. The title of this map, characterizing Picardy as 'Belgicae regionis,' suggests that either Ortelius appears to have not considered this either a correct or permanent state of affairs.The present example is the second state of the map, which is distinct from the 1579 first state by the presence of a number of changes, most notable in the correction in the course of the river Évoissons (flowing into Amiens from the southwest, just to the upper right hand of the cartouche) including the addition of several cities, such as Contre and Fleury. These changes were made sometime between 1584 and 1587; at some point after the 1579 publication of the first issue of this map, errors in Surhon's mapping were brought to Ortelius' attention, and amended.
Publication History and Census
This map was engraved and first added to the Ortelius Atlas in 1579. The present example conforms typographically to the 1595 Latin edition of the work. This map is well represented in institutional collections and appears on the market from time to time.CartographerS
Abraham Ortelius (April 14, 1527 - June 28, 1598) also known as Ortels, was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer of Brabant, active in Antwerp. He was the creator of the first modern atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum and is a seminal figure in the history of cartography. Along with Gerard Mercator and Gemma Frisius, he was a founder of the Netherlandish school of cartography. His connections with Spain - culminating in his 1575 appointment as Royal Cartographer to King Phillip II of Spain - gave him unmatched access to Spanish geographical knowledge during a crucial period of the Age of Discovery. Ortelius was born in 1527 in Antwerp. In 1547 he entered the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as an illuminator of maps. He began trading in books, prints, and maps, traveling regularly to the Frankfurt book and print fair, where in 1554 he met Mercator. He accompanied Mercator on journeys throughout France in 1560 and it was at this time, under Mercator's influence, that he appears to have chosen his career as a scientific geographer. His first published geographic work appeared in 1564, an eight-sheet cordiform world map. A handful of other maps preceded the 1570 publication of the first edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, which would prove to be his life work. Appearing with but 53 maps in its first edition, Ortelius' work expanded with new maps added regularly. By 1592, it had 134 maps. Many of Ortelius' maps remained the standard for nearly a century. He traveled extensively, but his genius was as a compiler, locating the best informed maps on which to base his own. His contacts throughout Europe and extending even (via the Portuguese) to the Far East were formidable. Moreover, many of his maps were based on his own scholarship, particularly his historical works. His theories of geography were particularly ahead of his time with respect to the notion of continental drift, the possibility of which he mused on as early as 1596, and which would be proven correct centuries later.
In a sense his greatest achievement was his successful navigation of the religious and political violence endemic to his city throughout his adult life: The Dutch Revolt, or Eighty Years' War (1568 - 1648), fully embroiled Antwerp. Although outwardly and officially recognized as Catholic (Arias Montanus vouched for Ortelius' Catholic orthodoxy prior to his appointment as Royal Geographer), Ortelius was able to separate himself from the religious furor which characterized the war in the low countries. Ortelius showed a glimpse of himself in a letter to a friend, regarding humanist Justus Lipsius: 'I do not know whether he is an adherent of the Pope or a Calvinist, but if he has ears to hear, he will neither be one nor the other, for sins are committed on both sides'. Ortelius' own explorations of Biblical history in his maps, and the Christogram contained in his own motto, suggest him to be a religious man, but his abjuration of political religious authorities mark him as an individualist. His tombstone at St Michael's Præmonstratensian Abbey in Antwerp bears the inscription, Quietis cultor sine lite, uxore, prole. ('served quietly, without accusation, wife, and offspring.') More by this mapmaker...
Jean de Surhon (fl. 1550 - 1600) was a Franco-Flemish engraver and cartographer. His father and brother, both named Jacques, were engravers and cartographers as well: his father was also a silversmith. He is remembered for those of his maps which were incorporated in Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum: those of Namur (1553), Vermandois (1557), Luxembourg (1551), and Picardy (1557). The original maps do not appear to have survived, and thus Ortelius' versions are the earliest acquirable to the collector. The first, 1570 edition of the Theatrum contained the map of Vermandois: Namur and Picardy first appeared in the 1579 edition. It is a testament to Surhon's maps that no improvement was made to them until the second half of the seventeenth century: Willem Blaeu's atlas would reprise Surhon's work in a faithful, though more beautiful copy of the Ortelius. Learn More...
Source
Ortelius, A., Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, (Antwerp: Plantin) 1595.
Abraham Ortelius' magnum opus, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, was the world's first regularly produced atlas, which 'set the standards for later atlases . . . It was the first undertaking of its kind to reduce the best available maps to an uniform format.' (Koeman) A modestly-sized work of fifty-three maps in its first edition of May 1570, it was an immediate success: there were three further editions that year, and the work remained in print for a total of 32 editions, the last of which was 1641, well after its author's 1598 death. Ortelius added to his atlas constantly, and by 1595 the Theatrum contained 147 maps. Ortelius is renowned generally as an editor, and indeed much of the Theatrum is compiled from a variety of sources: in such cases, Ortelius was scrupulous in naming his sources. But Ortelius was also a mapmaker in his own right: many of his maps are a distillation of various sources into his own work, and there were many maps - particularly in his atlas of Biblical and ancient history Parergon - which were entirely Ortelius' work. In his role as an editor, Ortelius followed in the footsteps of Munster, whose Cosmographia was, until Ortelius, the best window on the world for the curious European reader. In terms of the artistry of his maps, Ortelius oversaw the first great flourishing of copperplate engraving in the service of cartography to occur in Northern Europe. Ortelius' work provided the model for the atlases of Mercator, Hondius, Blaeu and all their progeny in the 17th century - many of whom were to produce faithful editions of Ortelius' maps in their own productions.
Condition
Excellent. Few specks; early manuscript underlining of some placenames. Else fine with beautiful original color.
References
Rumsey 10001.125 (1608). van den Broecke Ortelius Atlas Maps, Ort 46, State 2.
Karrow, R. W., Mapmakers of the Sixteenth Century and their Maps, 74/3.