1588 Ortelius Map of Thuringia (Germany) by Mellinger Printed by Plantin. Framed

Description: 1588 Ortelius Map of Thuringia (Germany) by Mellinger Printed by Plantin. Framed Turingiae noviss. Descript [A very recent depiction of Thüringen] by Johannes Mellinger Halens [Johannes Mellinger of Halle] from the First Spanish Edition (1588) of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of Abraham Ortelius Printed by Christophe Plantin Antwerp, 1588 A hand-colored map of the Thuringia region of Germany. From 'Theatro de la Tierra Universal de Abraham Ortelio, con sus declaraciones traduzidas d'el Latin: impresso por Christoval Plantino. Anveres, 1588. Folio. Descriptive text in Spanish of Thuringia and Meissen on verso. Framed without mat in black wood frame between two panes of glass. Map dimension: 8 3/16 x 11 6/16 inches (21 x 29 cm.) Sheet dimension: 9 ¾ x 14 1/5 inches Frame dimension: 11 3/16 x 15 13/16 inches This map [No. 51: Tvringiae noviss. descript. per Iohannem Mellinger Halens] -- is from the first Spanish edition (1588) of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by Ortelius, which was conceived by Plantin as a means of demonstrating his loyalty to the Habsburg crown. Such a public declaration was necesitated by several interconnected difficulties faced by Plantin in the 1580s, which were contingent on his Spanish overlords and employers. The first of these was financial: since the early 1570s Plantin had been trying in vain to recover the outlays for the enormously expensive Biblia Regia (1572-3), which had been commissioned by Philip II's ministers on the understanding that all costs would be covered by the royal treasury. To this end the Spanish Theatrum formed part of a larger and very carefully orchestrated publicity campaign, in which Plantin contrived to win over the Spanish court with two new volumes dedicated to two of its most influential members: the Prince of Asturias, who received the Theatrum, and his tutor, Garcia de Loaisa, to whom was dedicated a new edition of Ortelius' Thesaurus Geographicus. This offensive was timed for a period when Plantin's reputation in Spain was fragile: between 1583 and 1585 he had abandoned Antwerp for Protestant Leiden, then at war with Spain, and while this inevitably annoyed his Spanish patrons, it also aroused the suspicions of the religious authorities. Evading their grasp, by demonstrating loyalty or acquiring powerful protectors, was obviously of paramount concern for Plantin, but, as Jason Harris has noted, it was no less beneficial to Ortelius, who had also recently been investigated for his links to heretical groups in Antwerp. Thuringia became a landgraviate in 1130 AD. After the extinction of the reigning Ludowingian line of counts and landgraves in 1247 and the War of the Thuringian Succession (1247–1264), the western half became independent under the name of "Hesse", never to become a part of Thuringia again. Most of the remaining Thuringia came under the rule of the Wettin dynasty of the nearby Margraviate of Meissen, the nucleus of the later Electorate and Kingdom of Saxony. With the division of the house of Wettin in 1485, Thuringia went to the senior Ernestine branch of the family, which subsequently subdivided the area into a number of smaller states, according to the Saxon tradition of dividing inheritance amongst male heirs. These were the "Saxon duchies", consisting, among others, of the states of Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Eisenach, Saxe-Jena, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg, and Saxe-Gotha; Thuringia became merely a geographical concept. Johannes Mellinger (1538 in Halle - beginning of May 1603 in Celle ) was as German cartographer and physician. Abraham Ortelius (14 April 1527 – 28 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer and geographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World). Ortelius is often considered one of the founders of the Netherlandish school of cartography and one of the most notable figures of the school in its golden age (approximately 1570s–1670s). The publication of his atlas in 1570 is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography. He is also believed to be the first person to imagine that the continents were joined before drifting to their present positions. Theatrum Orbis Terrarum ("Theatre of the Orb of the World") is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius, strongly encouraged by Gillis Hooftman and originally printed on 20 May 1570 in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of uniform map sheets and supporting text bound to form a book for which copper printing plates were specifically engraved. The Ortelius atlas is sometimes referred to as the summary of sixteenth-century cartography. The publication of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570) is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography (approximately 1570s–1670s). CONDITION: The map is complete and clean with no tears. The sheet has 6 tiny wormholes, three of which are in the lower map area and three in the margins. The diameter of the largest worm hole in the map is less than 2 mm. and the others are smaller. The wormholes are normaly not observable except when they are back-lit. The map sheet has some light spotting in the blank margins Check our other auctions and store listings for additional unusual items Check our other auctions and store listings for additional unusual items Click to edit textClick to edit text Listing and template services provided by inkFrog

Price: 275 USD

Location: NJ

End Time: 2024-08-30T02:00:04.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD