POLONIÆ, LITVANIÆ Q. DESCRIPTIO, 1595–98

1595–98 Vaclovas Grodeckis (original cartographer/engraver) – Andrzej Pograbski (correcting cartographer) – Abraham Ortelius (publisher): “POLONIÆ, LITVANIÆ Q. DESCRIPTIO“.

Amsterdam or Antwerp, 38 x 50.5 cm./ 14.5 x 19.125 inches, in differently-colored versions, all from “Theatrum Orbis Terrarum,” the first modern atlas: the first  systematic collection of maps  that included all parts of the world, with maps in a uniform format. 

Ortelius collected the best available maps and had them re-engraved in a  uniform size. It also is the first printed book of any kind to footnote sources. This is the first issue of Ortelius’s second map of Poland and Lithuania, which replaced the earlier plate illustrated on the previous page. The title has been changed and the cartouche redesigned, and there are alterations to the geography, particularly on the right-hand (eastern) side of the map. Sources which say the corrections/additions first appeared in 1598 are mistaken.