Cartographica Neerlandica Background for Ortelius Map No. 16

Title: ANGLIAE, SCOTIAE ET HIBERNIAE, SIVE | BRITANNICAR: INSVLARVM DESCRIPTIO. [A representation of England, Scotland and Ireland, or the British Isles.] "Cum Priuilegio" (8 lines in cartouche lower right:) "Britannia olim insularum Occidentis et Septentrionis | maxima & potentiß.est.cuius potiorem hodie par:|tem Angliam vocamus, ab Anglis videlicet Saxonum | gente, quæ sub Valentiniano eam ingreßa, tenuit. Hæc | veteribus Albion dicebatur, ad differentiam, quum re:|liquæ oês eò tractu Britannicæ dicebantur. Ab Occa:|su vicinam habet Hiberniam, hodie Irlandiam ap:|pellatam; & regibus Angliæ subditam". [Brittannia is mightiest in the area of the Western and Northern islands. The most powerful part at this time we call Anglia, after the Saxon people or the Angles, who invaded and ruled over the island under Valentinianus. The ancients distinguished it as Albion; the remaining parts of this area were collectively called Britannica. In the West it has Hibernia as its neighbour, which is nowadays called Ireland, and which is subject to the rulers of Anglia].

Plate size: 347 x 503 mm
Scale: 1 : 2,500,000
Identification number: Ort 16 (Koeman/Meurer: 6, Karrow: 1/11, van der Krogt AN: 5000:31A).

Occurrence in Theatrum editions and page number:

1570L(AC)6 (225 copies printed) (last line, italic like the entire text, centred like one line above it: "huius libri,Hunfridi Luid doctissimam epistolam." ; third line from bottom: "magno volumine".),
1570L(B)6 (100 copies printed) (last two lines centred, non-italic. Third line from the bottom: tum,...volumine.)
1571L6 (275 copies printed) (last line, centred like 2 lines above it: huius libri,Humfredi Llhuyd doctissimam Epistolam.)
1571D/1573D6 ((350 copies printed) last line, centred like 2 lines above it: heeten dit Eylandt in haer tale Bërin.),
1572/1574F6 (225 copies printed) (last line, centred like 2 lines above it: Les habitans appellent ceste Isle en leur langage,Erin.),
1572G6Koler (pasted over p.6 of a 1570 Latin edition; few copies printed) (last line, left aligned, names not in Gothic script: na, der Druidum Insula/so wider zu recht gebracht/findest du zu ende dises Buchs/ein sehr künstliche Epistel des Humfredi Lhuid.),
1572/1573G6 (225 copies printed) (last line, centred like 4 lines above it: Insel in jre sprach Erin.),
1573L(AB)6 (75 copies printed) (last line, in cursive script like the entire text: "thensem; Ponticum Virunium; & Bedam"; the textblock "Phlandro/rum fortè" to the left of the main text in version A, to the right in version B);
1574L6 (175 copies printed) (large page number, 11 mm; last line, centred like 3 lines above it: Virunium ; Ioannem Prisæum ; & Bedam.),
1575L6 (100 copies printed) (small page number, 7 mm; last line, centred like 3 lines above it: sem;Ponticum Virunium;Ioannem Prisæum;&Bedam.),
1579L(A)8 (250 copies printed) (last line, left aligned, in cursive writing like the entire text: "Ponticum Virunium;& Bedam". last letter E of second title line below letter I of first title line),
1579L(B)8 (250 copies printed) (last line, left aligned, in cursive writing like the entire text: "Ponticum Virunium;& Bedam". last letter E of second title line below space between letter I and C of first title line),
1580/1589G8 (350 copies printed) (last line, centred like 5 lines above it, partly in Gothic script: Viruniam,und Bedam.),
1581F8 (400 copies printed) (last line aligned left: Monomuthensis,Ponticus Virunius,Ioan.Prisæus & Beda.),
1584L9 (750 copies printed) (last line, full width, italic script like the entire text: "Sabellicum Enn.10.lib.3. Gulielmum Paradinum,Galfredum Monomuthensem,Ponticum Virunium;& Bedam".),
1587F9 (250 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: thensis, Ponticus Virunius, Ioan. Prisæus & Beda.),
1588S9 (300 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: Gulielmo Paradin , Galfredo Monomuthense , Pontico Virunio,y a Beda.),
1592L10 (525 copies printed) (last line, left aligned, in cursive script like the entire text: "primis Britanniam Camdeni; quam postquam legeris, vidisse putaueris"),
1595L10 (500 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: Virunium;& Bedam : sed in primis Britanniam Camdeni; quam postquam legeris, vidisse putaveris. 8th line ends with Re-),
1598F10 (525 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: cus Virunius,Ioan. Prisus,& Beda.),
1598/1610/1613D10 (100 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: seyt.De hooftstadt hierin is Dublin. De inwoonders heeten dit Eylandt in haer tale Vërin.),
1601L10 (200 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: geris , vidisse putaueris.),
1602G10 (250 copies printed) (last line first text page, in Gothic script like the entire text, full width: und anzeignung dero Reichtumb sein/gleich andere barbarische Völcker das Golt achten. Es lehret auch Cæsar , das sie von Fellen und Heutten sich beklei- ; last line second text page, left aligned: fenbein fast änlich:Dann die vornehme Pracht und Ehr dero Männer/steht in empsiger Rüstung dero Wapen.),
1602S10 (250 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: despues de auerlo leydo,parescera le auerlo visto con los oyos.),
1603L10 (300 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: Virunium;& Bedam: sed in primis Britanniam Camdeni; quam postquam legeris, vidisse putaueris. Text and page number, but not typesetting, identical with that of 1609/1612L but page number 10 is here below vidisse in last line. 8th line ends in Solinus.),
1606E10 (300 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: whole ile.),
1608/1612I10 (300 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: letta, penserai d'hauerla veduta.),
1609/1612L10 (300 copies printed) (text and page number, but not typesetting, identical with 1603L, but page number 10 is here below comma after legeris in last line. 8th line ends in Solinus; last line, left aligned: Virunium;& Bedam: sed in primis Britanniam Camdeni;quam postquam legeris, vidisse putaueris.).
1609/1612/1641S10 (325 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: todos, al qual despues de auerlo leydo,parescera le auerlo visto con los oyos.),

Approximate number of copies printed: 8175

States: (as described above) 16.1.
16.2 from 1579L(A) has a stronger hatching on the left bird's head of the lower left cartouche, and also of the round decoration above its head. Moreland and Bannister (1983) reverse these states.
16.3 from 1584L onwards, stippling disappears within the Cum privilegio area bottom right, while the other sea stippling together with land features were re-engraved. Some areas, like the Cum priuilegio one, became "unstippled". Hachuring along see coasts was extended from 2 or 3 mm to 4 or 5 mm, depending on the area. Upper left corner has wear that increases with its usage. See further Kelly, below, who has established this state.

Cartographic sources: Mercator's 1564 map of the British Isles (Meurer p. 197, Karrow 56/16 p. 387-388). In his Catalogus Auctorum, Ortelius also mentions Llhuyd and Saxton. In the text he also mentions Lilius, who published a map of the British isles in 1549 in Venice. Nordenskjöld mentions a map of Britain printed by Gourmont in Paris in 1548 as a possible source. Brandmair mentions a map of the British isles by Ioannes Molijns, Antwerp 1549 as a possible source.

References: Shirley (1991) map 86, plate 42. A. Kelly "Maps of the British Isles, England and Wales, and Ireland", p. 221-238, in Van den Broecke, van der Krogt & Meurer (eds.) "Abraham Ortelius and the First Atlas, 1998, HES Publishers.

Remarks: this map was possibly followed by a similar one, which was never regularly used in the Theatrum and of which only one copy has been identified so far. See for a description of that map as well as the present one A. Kelly, referenced above.
Note that the ship occurring on this map can also be found on the Germania map (Ort56) and the Flandria map (Ort75).
The text of this map has been rewritten a number of times. We give below the various versions of the texts.

Text

Bibliographical sources

Topographical names