Books

Antwerp: Gillis van den Rade, 1575. 5th Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 5th Edition. Hardcover. Large folio (428 x 295 mm). 10 unnumbered leaves, including engraved, hand-coloured and gold-heightened architectural title; the Catalogus Auctorum with 106 names; 91 maps on 70 hand-colored double-page plates mounted on guards, 48 text leaves of index. Signatures: A6 B4, a-h6. 17th-century mottled calf, spine with 7 raised bands richly gilt in compartments and with gilt-lettered label, original marbled endpapers (minor rubbing of spine and extremities, corners bumped). Paper somewhat browned throughout, very little occasional spotting, loss to lower blank corner of text leaf e4, foot of world map with short split along center fold, 14 maps with old paper repairs of tear along folds (without loss), small hole near center fold of plates 7 and 35, two small patches with abrasion to image of plate 14. Provenance: Conti Lamberti (armorial bookplate with the motto "Cosa fare capo ha" to first…

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, or "Theatre of the World", is considered to be the first true modern atlas, comprising a collection of maps in a uniform format.