Title
Americae Sive Novi Orbis, Nova Descriptio
Cartographer
Ortelius, Abraham, 1527-1598
Century Published
16th century
Publication Date
between 1565 and 1579
Publisher
Ortelius, Abraham 1527-1598
Place of Publication
Belgium--Antwerp
Original Source
"Theatrum Orbis Terrarum." Ortelius, Abraham. Antwerp: Abraham Ortelius, 1570.
Descriptive Notes
Copper engraving handcolored with watercolor.
Full color.
Relief shown pictorially.
Printed in lower left corner in cartouche:
"Americae Sive Novi Orbis Nova Descriptio."
Written in pencil along top on verso:
"America - Ortelius 1579."
Printed on verso: “Novus Orbis.” First line of text on verso: “Totum hoc hemisphaerium…”
Printed in bottom right corner on verso: “2.”
Many distinct geographic features characterize this map. The Pacific Ocean, for example, appears "very narrow" and New Guinea is shown as "due south of California." ("Americae sive Novi Orbis, Nova Descriptio"). The eastern coasts of the Americas are shown with "amazing accuracy: the coast of Brazil is only 3 degrees too far east, the position of Hispaniola is absolutely accurate, and Newfoundland is just 8 degrees too far west." In contrast, the western coasts are distorted. Chile, Peru and California are shown as far too west, thus making both continents "too broad." Moreover, Chile seems to bulge out from South America (Burden, 51-2). Evidence from Cartier's exploration of the St. Lawrence and Spanish exploration in Mexico and the Californian coast appear within this map as well. For example, Coronado's exploration is seen in the naming of Ceuola, Tiguex and Quivira, although Quivira is depicted in the far northwest of North America instead of the Great Plains (Ermen, 11). "Chili" is shown in this map as a city and Santiago, though founded in 1541, is not shown. On the other hand, a key to numbered cities in Peru is shown in Patagonia. The Rio de la Plata is depicted with an "exaggerated width and numerous isles" (Klemp, map 15). Of note, the "mythical kingdom" of "Anian" is shown in the Northwest. Illustrations include a few small ships sailing eastward in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and a whale in the South Atlantic.
Scale: c.a. 1:38,000,000.
Contextual Notes
Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) was a cartographer and publisher. He set up a business as a book dealer and map painter in Antwerp. He traveled a great deal, making his business successful by developing a large network of contacts around Europe. In 1564 he published a world map in eight sheets, marking the start of a long career in map publishing (Moreland and Bannister, 98). In 1570, Ortelius published the “first modern uniform atlas,” the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570) (Tooley, 476). Having combined a large collection of maps from various European cartographers, he had them engraved to a standard size (Moreland and Bannister, 98). He also commissioned Frans Hogenberg to create cartouches and illustrations for these maps, following the popular style of the Flemish Renaissance (Klemp, map 15). Multiple editions of this highly successful and influential atlas were published in many languages up to 1612. Of note, Ortelius credited other cartographers. Ortelius’s other works include: “Egypt” (1565), “Asia” (1567), “Spain” (1570) and “Roman Empire” (1571) (Tooley, 476).
This map is perhaps the “most famous and easily recognizable” maps of the New World from this period (Burden, 51). In the creation of the map, Ortelius either copied greatly from Mercator’s “Great World Map” of 1569 or used many of the same sources as a number of similarities arise between the two maps. As Ortelius and Mercator were good friends, it may be likely that they shared a lot of information with each other (Burden, 51).