Very fine example of one of Ortelius’ map of the Biblical regions of Judea and Israel, present in the appendix of the “Theatrum Orbis Terrarum”, the first printed atlas.

From 1579 onwards, Ortelius added a whole new appendix to his “Theatrum Orbis Terrarum” the first printed atlas. This appendix, known as the Parergon, contained a series of maps illustrating the regions and epochs of the classical world. Several of these maps were dedicated to myths and legends, such as a cartographic imagining of the travels of Aeneas after the Trojan War and the travels of Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece. A further group of these maps include cartographic imaginings of Biblical epochs. As with the “Theatrum”, the number of maps in the Parergon grew in number as its editions progressed.

One of the most interesting features of the Parergon is that the majority of the maps were authored by Ortelius himself with his name usually present on the map; this is in direct opposition to the maps in the “Theatrum”, where Ortelius usually credits the original author of the maps presented. The one major exception is the map of the world, where Ortelius does sign his name.

This map focuses on the Biblical regions of Judea and the Land of Israel. The source of the geography is the wall map by Tileman Stella, a Biblical scholar who was asked by his master, Philip Melanchthon, to produce a map which would aid studies of the Bible. The result was a wall map of the Holy Land based on the map by Jacob Ziegler issued in 1532 but augmented by Stella’s exhaustive study of Biblical nomenclature and geographical interpretation published in 1559. Ortelius’ version, much reduced, is focused between Beirut and Rhinocorura. The map first appeared in 1590 and was present to the last edition of the atlas in 1612.

This example of the map is the 1595 edition. The text on the reverse is in Latin and the outstanding colour is original. Image of the reverse available on request. [MEAST4663]