Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598), Asiae Nova Descriptio

Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) Asiae Nova DescriptioAntwerp: Abraham Ortelius, 1573Copperplate engraving with original hand colorPaper size: 16" x 20 3/4"   Beautifully hand-colored example of Ortelius' map of Asia, from Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern world atlas. The map has a marvelous misprojection of Japan and Southeast Asia, a very distinct Northeast Passage, and it includes sailing ships and other embellishments.Abraham Ortelius is perhaps the best known and most frequently collected of all sixteenth-century mapmakers. Ortelius started his career as a map engraver. In 1547 he entered the Antwerp guild of St Luke as afsetter van Karten. His early career was as a business man, and most of his journeys before 1560 were for commercial purposes. In 1560, while traveling with Gerard Mercator to Trier, Lorraine, and Poitiers, he seems to have been attracted, largely by Mercator’s influence, towards a career as a scientific geographer. From that point forward, he devo