Eryn. Hiberniae, Britannicae Insula, Nova Descriptio. Irlandt. Cum Priuilegio. 1588.

[A new description of Eryn (or) Ireland, a British island. Ireland. Original hand-coloured engraved map with Latin text on verso from the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.With privilege]. 480 x 360mm. Framed and glazed. Antwerp: Circa 1588. In fine condition.
Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598), the celebrated Flemish cartographer and geographer, transformed the study of geography with the publication of his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum in Antwerp in 1570. Widely regarded as the first modern atlas, the work assembled the best available maps of the known world in a uniform format and rapidly became one of the most successful and influential books of the Renaissance. By the early seventeenth century it had appeared in numerous editions and languages, establishing a new standard for European cartography. He is also believed to be the first person to imagine that the continents were joined together before drifting to their present positions.
The present map, Hiberniae Britannicae Insulae Nova Descriptio, is among the most important early printed maps of Ireland. First published in 1573, it was based largely upon the cartographic work of John Goghe and remained the standard printed representation of Ireland for many decades. Through its inclusion in successive editions of the Theatrum, it became the image through which much of continental Europe visualised Ireland during the Tudor and early Stuart periods.
The verso contains a substantial Latin geographical and historical description of Ireland headed Hibernia, discussing the island’s size, provinces, rivers, lakes, natural resources, climate, flora and fauna, together with observations on the customs and character of the Irish people derived from classical and contemporary authorities. Such descriptive texts formed an integral part of Ortelius’s atlas, combining humanist scholarship with cartography and reflecting the Renaissance ambition to present a complete account of the known world. The survival of both map and accompanying text is an important feature, confirming its origin from a Latin edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.
Ortelius’s map remains one of the iconic monuments of Irish cartography and is considered essential to any collection of early maps of Ireland. Its decorative title cartouche, contemporary hand-colouring and historical significance have ensured its enduring desirability among collectors and institutions alike.
The Theatrum was the first compressed geographical database of the then-known world, which you could comfortably open up on your lap. His atlas continued to be published yearly in various editions until 1612. The first ‘Theatrum’ in 1570 contained 53 maps, the last in 1612 published some fourteen years after Ortelius’ death has 128 maps. “Eryn” got a page to herself in the 1573 edition, after Ortelius’ death in 1598, versions of Baptista Boazio’s Ireland began to replace this map in later editions. Depicted on the map are: The four provinces; rivers, lakes, mountains, towns, cities, islands, woods, some counties, and clan locations. According to Andrew Bonar Law this map of Ireland appears to be a direct copy of the Irish map in Mercator’s wall map of the British Isles 1564, in which the island lies on its side with west orientated to the top.
In text block top centre: Ex Gyraldo camb. “In Arran insulis, hominum corpora non putrescunt, eoque non humantur, sed diuo exposita permanent in: corrupta. Sic homines auos, at auos, tritauos longamque stirpis suae seriem magna admiratione cogoscunt In ea non sunt mures; et si aliunde illati fuerint, in mare confestim se praecipitant; sin impediantur, emoriuntur. [We find in Gyraldus Cambrensis that on the isles of Arran, human bodies do not decay or liquefy, but also when exposed for a long time remain uncorrupted. Thus, the people here see their grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great- grandparents, in fact their entire lineage in great admiration. There are no mice here. And if they come from elsewhere, they immediately cast themselves into the sea. If you stop them, they die]”. In the text block bottom right “Hanc insulae partem Anglis incolendam de: dit Elisabetha Angliae regina; Coloniaque du; cta est Dno Smetho equite aurato 1572. [Part of this island was given to the English to live here by Queen Elizabeth of England. The settlement was ruled by Mr Smetho, a horseman clad with gold, in 1572.] The name of Gyraldus Cambrensis is mentioned four times on the map, and Polydorus once.