Maris Pacifici quod vulgo Mar del Zud

The first printed map to focus on the Pacific Ocean, showing the west coast of the Americas, the coast of China, Japan and the South East Asian archipelago.

Described by Marcel van den Broeke, author of Ortelius Atlas Maps, as a "map of fundamental cartographic importance" the "Maris Pacifici" was originally engraved 1589; this date is recorded on the lower centre of the dedication. It was issued in paper form for the first time in 1590, for the Latin edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first 'Atlas' or first curated collection of maps from all parts of the world of a uniform size and style bound in book form. The Theatrum was an extremely successful work, widely distributed through Europe and beyond and for decades it was the leading geographical authority available to scholars, governments and rulers. Ortelius continuously updated, revised and added to its contents, so that on its last edition in 1612, the work had more than doubled in size in comparison to its first edition in 1570. Often these additions were the first European printed geographical records or even the first actual cartographic records of previously unknown areas of the world. Simultaneously, by default, all of his maps were the first maps to appear in an atlas.

The "Maris Pacifici" is very much a case in point. It is the first printed map to focus on the Pacific Ocean and the newly made discoveries within. It was published to draw attention to the achievement of Magellan for his circumnavigation of the globe, as well as to illustrate the relation between the eastern coast of Asia and the west coast of the New World. The large vignette of a ship that can be seen prominently in the Pacific illustrates the Victoria, the only survivor of Magellan's fleet to return to Europe. The four lines of Latin beneath the ship poetically celebrate his achievement. Another panel of text on the upper left, celebrates the work of the Society of Jesus or Jesuits in China and Japan; Ortelius had already published the first European map of China given to him by the geographer to the King of Portugal which was based on Jesuit surveys; in 1595, he would go on to publish the first European printed map of Japan, again based on Jesuit surveys.

The geographical sources of this map are varied. Certainly features from Mercator's world map of 1569 are prominent on this map, including the huge island of New Guinea on the western part of the Pacific; the addition of the Solomon Islands off its eastern coast is a new discovery. Ortelius also had access to regional manuscript charts by the Portuguese cosmographer, Bartolomeo de Lasso, the authority on Portuguese discoveries in the Far East. Finally, it is believed that many of the names present on the west coasts of North, South and Central America were sourced from Richard Hakluyt, the writer, editor and compiler of many of the accounts of English voyages of discovery, although it is difficult to know how much of this Ortelius acknowledged as this was information which was obtained from areas which were part of the Spanish Empire.

The example of this map which is on offer here is the 1592 edition with Latin text on the reverse and is particularly distinguished by its fine original hand colour. Latin text on verso (image available on request). Fine original hand colour.

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