Catalog Archive
Auction 182, Lot 612

"Insularum Aliquot Maris Mediterranei Descriptio", Ortelius, Abraham

Subject: Mediterranean Islands

Period: 1572 (published)

Publication: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum

Color: Hand Color

Size:
18.6 x 14.1 inches
47.2 x 35.8 cm
Download High Resolution Image
(or just click on image to launch the Zoom viewer)

This is the first state of this splendid composite of six maps of the major islands in the Mediterranean: Sardinia, Sicily, Corfu, Djerba, Elba, and Malta. Each map is beautifully engraved and embellished with a variety of ships including a sinking ship off the coast of Malta where Saint Paul was supposed to have shipwrecked. French text on verso.

References: Van den Broecke #141.

Condition: A

A crisp impression with gilt highlights on a bright sheet with a bunch of grapes watermark. There is marginal soiling and professional repairs to a separation along the centerfold and a couple of short tears in the blank margins.

Estimate: $550 - $700

Sold for: $400

Closed on 4/28/2021

Archived