3163 Ortelius, Abraham: Potus Euxinus 1590

English
Russia
Ortelius, Abraham
1590
copperplate engraving
50 x 35,5 cm
ORIGINAL

Ortelius map of "Pontos Àxenos" Greek for inhospitable sea at a scale of around 1:3.750.000. Northerly orientated with a grid reference boarding the entire map. Ortelius is known to have built on the work of pioneering cartographer Gerand Mecator and to have used his classical names for many of his maps. The area named Scythia is in the area of modern day Ukraine. Being a map predominantly of the Black Sea only coastal areas are mapped in detail. Two large mountain ranges are shown the Caucasus in the east and the mythical Rhipäische mountains in the northwest. The title cartouche on the right hand side has the title in both Latin and Cyrillic and the date of publication. Additional Latin text is on the rear side. Of note, despite being renamed after its conquest by the Ottomans in 1453, Istanbul is shown here as Byzantium. Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) was one of the most important figures in cartographer in this period. He is best known for his 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' generally considered the first Atlas. References Tooley's Dictionary of Mapmaker, Early World Press, 2004, p358-359 Marcel P. R. van den Broecke, Ortelius Atlas Maps, HES Publishers, 2011, p633

Deutsch
Schwarzes Meer
Ortelius, Abraham
1590
Kupferstich
50 x 35,5 cm
ORIGINALKARTE