This is the later variant of a map first issued by Benedict Arias Montanus in the Polyglot Bible of 1571.



Born in 1527, Montanus was a Spanish polymath who had entered Holy Orders in 1559, specifically the Benedictine Order. Philip II of Spain appointed him as the editor of the eight volume Antwerp Polyglot Bible, written in Latin, Syriac, Greek and Hebrew. The work was published by Christoph Plantin, one of the most famous publishers in the city who counted Abraham Ortelius among his clients. Indeed, Montanus and Ortelius knew each other and were good friends although the latter did not contribute any of his maps to the Bible; he may have contributed his contacts though, as there were several important maps within the work. Montanus delivered the project and after a brush with the Inquisition due his extensive sampling of rabbinical texts, he was made Chaplain to Philip II and ultimately Superintendent of the Escorial Library.



Geographically, the map is simplistic, with details only specific to its subject which will be covered below. The outline is reminiscent of the maps of Giacomo Gastaldi with several curious features as well as several unorthodox depictions. The most prominent feature is a vast land bridge between America and Asia, present on several maps by Gastaldi. One of the more unorthodox omissions for the period was the lack of an amorphous, Great Southern Land or Continent. The sparsely known lands of the south were usually made a part of this continent but with its lack, Tierra del Fuego is, whether by accident or design, portrayed in its true form as an island, one of its earliest depictions as such. There is a prominent North East Passage which leads to a vast open ocean in the Arctic region. Further South, a landmass rises prominently south of the East Indies. There have been several suggestions that this is a very early portrayal of the northern shore of Australia based on the writings of the early Italian travellers Marco Polo and Ludovico de Varthema and supported by other anonymous Spanish and Portuguese sources available to Montanus due to his royal appointment.



Thematically, this map is a graphic portrait for Genesis Chapter X which describes the re-population of the world after the Flood by Noah's sons, Shem, Japhet and Ham as well as the Twelve Tribes. There are multiple symbols, letters and numbers placed on the map. There are also keys placed on the borders of the map explained as follows: the locations of the descendants of the Japhet are shown in Roman numerals; those of Shem with Latin letters and those of Ham with Arabic numerals. Interestingly, several locations are placed in the New World, including number 19, the city, region or country of Ophir, a legendary place of vast wealth. In Biblical terms, Ophir was the source of funds which Solomon used to build his Temple. Confusingly, it is placed in two locations, roughly corresponding to California and Peru. Several unorthodox historical theories have tied this to speculation that Levantine merchants and sailors, especially the Phoenicians, sailed across the Atlantic during the classical period. These theories were mainly championed by a Biblical and Semitic scholar, Cyrus H. Gordon, who based much of his conclusions after his research on the Bat Creek Stone or Tablet, a supposed Semitic artefact found in Tennessee in the late 19th century, which is now widely believed to be fraudulent.



Our example of the map being offered for sale is the issue printed for the "Critici Sacri", a work of Biblical scholarship published in London in 1660 and issued several times between that date and 1690. The plate is slightly smaller than the original and not quite as ornate, missing the "stormy sea" effect. All editions of this map are unusual.

Shirley 125 [WLD3329]