Carinthiae, Zarae, Histriae

click images to enlarge

[47.5 x 37 cm copperplate engraving, 56 x 45 cm sheet size, modern hand colour, Antwerp, 1579]

These images are of a 3-part original map from the 1579 Latin edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598), the first true atlas in the modern sense. In the above figure, showing at left the Kärnten (Carinthia) region of what is now Austria along with a map of the Adriatic coast from Trieste to Rijeka (Fiume) and a map of Istria, including the Zadar and Sibenik region, Ortelius based the cartography for this map on cartography submitted by his friend the Hungarian scholar Wolfgang Lazius along with earlier Italian maps by Pietro Coppo and Paulo Forlani.

Decorative title cartouche credits Wolfgang Lazius
Note bridges across Drava at Villach and Volkermarkt - to get a sense of map detail consider that the distance between the two cities as seen in this enlarged photo measures just 6 cm actual size.
Note ornate pictorial depictions of the cities of Zadar (Zara) and Sibenik (Sebenico), along with a depiction of "some ancient ruins":`

Histriæ

Latin text on verso contains some interesting commentary on the regions of the map - excerpts derived from the 1606 English edition are presented below:

"In that place where on our map (of Zadar and Sibenik) you see certain ruins of old decayed buildings Dominicus Niger says that city Essesia did one time stand but now lies level with the ground.  Today the place is known as Beribir, where epigrams in Latin and Greek with many other monuments of antiquity are yet seen."

"The citizens of Klagenfurt are so hardly bent against thieves that upon the least occasion of suspicion of theft shall be hanged there without examination, and then three days after the hanging they hold the trial.  If he is found to have been unjustly executed they bury him very honourably; if justly they let him hang still..."

[Unfortunately, no part of the Histria text was transcribed.]

Pietro Coppo, (Venezia 1470 - Isola d'Istria 1555) Fu Geografo, e Cartografo.

È particolarmente noto per l'opera, del 1520, De toto orbe, una descrizione assai precisa del mondo conosciuto all' epoca, con preziose mappe geografiche.

Autore in oltre di un Portolano (1528) e della prima esatta descrizione dell'Istria (Del Sito de l'Istria).

Sources:

  • eBay (July 2006)

  • http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_toto_orbe


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Created: Saturday, August 26, 2006; Last updated: Wednesday, January 12, 2022
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