Cartographica Neerlandica Background for Ortelius Map No. 169

Title: TVRCICI IMPE:|RII DESCRIPTIO. | "Concordia parvæ res crescunt, | Discordia maximæ dilabuntur". [A representation of the Turkish empire. Through unity small things grow, through discord they fall totally asunder]. (Lower right centre:) "Cum priuilegio." [With privilege]. (Text of 7 lines below Caspian sea:) "Tauris ol: Echnata, | regum Persarû sedes. | GELVCHALAT dicitur hic lacus a M. Paulo Ven: | ab alijs ARGIS. a Strabone fortè MARTIANA palus, | situs est inter confinia Aßyriæ. Armeniæ & Mediæ | hic magna fit piscatio per 40. dies tempore vernali, | nam ceteris anni partibus sterilis est. quæ pisces ae:|re et uento sicati, induratique in vicinis regioni:|bus mercatui exponuntur". [This lake was called Geluchalat by Marco Polo of Venice, by others it was called Argis, by Strabo the Martian swamps. It is situated at the borders of Assyria, Armenia and Media. There is supposed to be large scale fishing here for 40 days during spring, because it dries out during the rest of the year. Those fishes, dried and hardened by the open air and winds, are offered for sale on the markets in the surrounding area.] (Text block right centre, in present day Iran:) "ORMVS Regnum, peculiarem habet Regem | Lusitaniæ Regi tributarium: continetque totam | Arabiam littoralem ab Euphratis fl. ostio vsque | ad C. Razalqati, nec nom partem Regni Persidis | quæ adiacet freto Basoræ, atque insulas fere omnes | sinus Persici. Cuius metropolis est vrbs Ormus | in insula Geru sita, emporium celebre". [The kingdom of Ormus has as a distinctive feature a king who is a tributary to the king of Lusitania. It comprises all the Arab coasts from the mouth of the Euphrates to Cape Razalqati, the part of the Persian empire bordering on the Bazora straits and almost all islands in the Persian Gulf. Its capital is the city of Ormus on the isle of Gerus, a famous market town.] (Text block just above Jemen:) "Hinc thus per | omnes orbis par|tes distra:|hitur". [From here, incense is distributed over all parts of the world.] (Text at bottom right, near ship:) "Zocotara, olim Dioscuriada, | hinc per vniuersam Eu:|ropam defertur Aloen | laudatiß. quam inde So:|cotorinam apellant". [Zocotara, once called Dioscuriada; from here the highly praised aloe is shipped all over Europe, which is therefore called Socotorina.] (Text of 5 lines in North Africa:) "Ad C. Rasausen, olim Boreum Prom. | erant patrum nostrorum memoria, | Regis Tunetani, et Soldani Aegypti cõ:|finia. hodie vero Solimannorum imperi:|um hucusque, & ultra extenditur". [In the memory of our forebears cape Rasausen, formerly called the Borean promontory, formed the border between the Tunesian and Egyptian empire. Today the empire of the Solimanni extends all the way to this place, and even further]. (Text to the right of the large cartouche, near the Nile:) "Hic Presbyter Io:|hannes totius Ae:|thyopiæ rex longe | latèque imperitat". [Here rules Prester John far and wide, king of all of Æthiopia.] (Upper right:) "Samarchand | Tamberlanis magni Tar:|tarorum imperatoris quon:|dam regia". [Samarkand, once the royal seat of Tamberlan, the great emperor or the Tartars.]

Plate size: 378 x 496 mm
Scale: 1 : 12,000,000
Identification number: Ort 169 (Koeman/Meurer: 92, not in Karrow, vanderKrogtAN: 8100:31B).

Occurrence in Theatrum editions and page number:
1579L(B)86 (250 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: Laonicus Chalcondilas.),
1580/1589G86 (350 copies printed) (last line, left aligned, in Gothic script like the entire text: lige Mann Georgius Bruno von Cöllen/ vermahnet hat.),
1581F86 (400 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: la foy des Grecs,ils les nomment Romei, comme dit Pierre Bellon),
1584L96 (750 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: Laonicus Chalcondilas.),
1587F96 (250 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: la foy des Grecs, ils les nomment Romei, comme dit Pierre Bellon.),
1588S96 (300 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: por Laonico Chalcondylas.),
1592L104 (525 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: interpretatos.),
1595L110 (500 copies printed) (8th line from the bottom ends: ce- ; last line, left aligned: item eiusdem Historiam Musulmannicam.),
1598F111 (525 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: la foy des Grecs , ils les nomment Romei, comme dit Pierre Bellon.),
1598/1610/1613D79 (100 copies printed) (last line, left-aligned, in Gothic script like the entire text, except for names: vanden Griekschen gheloove zijn/heetense "Romei", seyt "Peeter Bellon."),
1601L110 (200 copies printed) (8th line from the bottom ends: ceteros ; last line, left aligned: item eiusdem Historiam Musulmannicam.),
1602G113 (250 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: Mann Georgius Bruno von Cöllen/vermahnet hat.),
1602S113 (250 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: Leoclauio. Item a su Historia Musulmannica.),
1603L113 (300 copies printed) (text, but not typesetting and page number, identical to 1609/1612L; last line, left aligned: item eiusdem Historiam Musulmannicam.),
1606E110 (300 copies printed) (last line, left aligned: tisfie thee to the full.),
1608/1612I122 (300 copies printed) (last line, in small font like 4 lines above it, left aligned: la sua historia de Massulmanni.),
1609/1612L123 (300 copies printed) (text, but not typesetting and page number, identical to 1603L; last line, left aligned: item eiusdem Historiam Musulmannicam.),
1609/1612/1641S123 (325 copies printed) (last line, full width: apparatu. Sobre todos las Historias Sultanos de Leonclauio.Item a su Historia Musulmãnica.).

Approximate number of copies printed: 6175.

States: 169.1 as described.
169.2: from 1592 onwards there is stippling added to most sea names. The hatching along the coasts is re-engraved and slightly extended.

Cartographic sources: Ortelius' 1567 Asia which derives from Gastaldi's 1561 Asia map. (Karrow p. 8, Meurer p. 38).

Reference: Tibbets (1978) "Arabia in Early Maps", Falcon-Oleander, map 42, p. 53.

Remarks: Successor of plate Ort 168, which is very similar, but has no angels at the top, as on this plate.

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Bibliographical sources

Topographical names