Ortelius' famous & highly desirable map of the Kingdom of Prester John:    Presbiteri Iohannis, sive, Abissinorum Imperii Descriptio.

Original copperplate engraved map
Fine Handcolor
375 x 435 mm
Map # D-4
$ 1,650

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Much has been written about this map.  The myth of Prester John, the good king defeating the enemies of Christianity, was in part a response to Mongol and Islamic pressures on Christian Europe.  For centuries, from the receipt of a fake letter from Prester John to the Byzantine Patriarch, Europeans searched for Prester John, initially in Asia and then in East Africa.   Europe hoped that Prester John and his vast army would join with Europeans in the protection of the Holy Lands from the Islamic Saracens and in the protection of all Europe from the Mongols.  In the late 1400s and early 1500s, the Portuguese searched vainly for Prester John in East Africa, through they did eventually find a Christian kingdom in Abyssinia.    

A dedication to King David of the Bible is in the upper left of map; above the dedication is the coat of arms of Prester John.  Elephants and other figures adorn the map.

This map first appeared in Ortelius’ Additamentum in 1573 and then in all later editions of his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum to 1612.  Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum  was the first atlas that produced a uniform series of maps of the world.  The publication of the Theatrum.Orbis Terrarum  can be considered the starting point for over 100 years of Dutch supremacy in the production of beautiful maps and atlases. 

This map has Latin text on the verso with a signature of p. "68".  Based on van der Krogt, this map is from the 1574 or 1575 edition of the Theatrum (van der Krogt, p. 883).  

References:  Norwich, map #11. Van den Broecke, map #175.  Krogt, Peter van der. Koeman's Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. 3 (Ortelius). 't Goy-Houten: HES Publishers, 2003.  For further information on Prester John, see Silverberg, Robert. The Realm of Prester John.  Athens, Ohio:  Ohio University Press, 1972.

A very fine example; strong image with attractive, well-executed colors on heavy and strong paper.  Remnant of cloth hangers on verso which were used by a framer to mount this map into a frame.