Orbis terrarum typus de integro multis in locis emendatus. [The entire world type has been improved in many areas]

Amsterdam, 1594. Hand-colored engraved map. A milestone in the art of mapmaking: this stunning full-color double hemisphere world map is the first to include decorative allegorical figures as a border.

This striking map of the world, engraved by the Dutch master Jan van Doetecum, holds the distinction of being the first world map to use allegorical decorated borders, which would become the standard for world maps for a century to come. The elaborate borders were inspired by drawings in the works of Theodore de Bry, published a few years earlier. The use of women to represent geographic regions--particularly Europe, Asia, Africa, and America--would gain popularity throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The accompanying flora and fauna would fluctuate slightly, but the overall perception of civilization as a hierarchy, with Europe at the top, would persist. This was due to European overseas imperial expansion. Some famous examples of the trope include the ceiling frescoes at the Wurszberg Residence (1750-3) and the statues adorning the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens, London (1872). The map also has great importance geographically, particularly in its mapping of the Arctic and the Far East. As to the latter, Plancius's contacts with merchants and navigators lent him access to the latest geographic information. This is the first time Korea appears as a peninsula, not an island, and Japan is shown using the Portuguese Luiz Teixeria's outline. Plancius was born in West Flanders. He trained as a clergyman in Germany and England but he was an expert not only in theology but also in geography, cosmography, and navigation as well. After fleeing persecution by the Inquisition in Brussels, Plancius settled in Amsterdam where he first began his forays into navigation and charting. As Amsterdam was a hub for trade, Plancius was able to access Portuguese charts, the most advanced in the world at the time. He used these charts to become an expert in the sailing routes to India. In Plancius's map, the two hemispheres, East and West, are dominated by a giant southern continent labeled as Magallanica. There are three ships in full sail in the Atlantic (2) and Indian Oceans (1), while a large sea monster lurks off the coast of South America. Above and below the joining of the hemispheres are the corresponding celestial shapes showing constellations in the north and southern hemispheres. Squeezed between these four spheres are an armillary sphere and a compass rose. Surrounding the geographic and cosmographic details are allegorical figures who represent the major regions of the world: Europa, Asia, Africa, Magallanica, Peruana, and Mexicana. In each vignette, a woman represents the qualitites, as perceived by Europeans, of that particular place. Placius had been an advocate for the Northeast Passage; he instigated the three voyages of Willem Barentsz from 1594-1597 into that area. He used this map to encourage the Dutch sailors by turning Novaya Zemlya into an island, with open sea between it and the Arctic. The map was such a success, it was reprinted in at least ten editions.

BL 3037.ee.1. LoC 2017585799. Schilder 16. Shirley 177, 187. Wagner 163. Wieder II, 7.