"Presbiteri Iohannis, Sive Abissinourm Imperii Descriptio",

Famous map of the kingdom of the mythical Christian king who according to legend provided a stronghold against Barbarians and was an ally to the crusaders. Ortelius designed this map himself using geographical information including Gastaldi's 1564 map of Africa. This decorative map includes two pair of large elephants in the interior and sea monsters and an oared ship in the Atlantic. There are two large strapwork cartouches, one enclosing the title and the other with text of the legend. Ref: Van den Broecke #175 and Norwich #11. Ink spot at upper center and remargined at bottom with a bit of the bottom neatlines in facsimile. Still a very attractive map.

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Condition: B