Catalog Archive
Auction 171, Lot 592

"Siciliae Veteris Typus", Ortelius, Abraham

Subject: Sicily, Italy

Period: 1584 (published)

Publication: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum

Color: Hand Color

Size:
19.2 x 14.7 inches
48.8 x 37.3 cm
Download High Resolution Image
(or just click on image to launch the Zoom viewer)

Stunning map with three decorative cartouches and a large inset of the harbor and city of Syracuse. Ortelius based this map on Gastaldi's map of Sicily from 1545. The map locates numerous smaller islands and extends to show a small part of the mainland of Italy. The waters are filled with beautiful script, sea monsters, and ships. This is the first state, with Latin text on verso.

References: Van den Broecke #211.1.

Condition: A

A sharp impression on a bright sheet with the crossed arrows watermark commonly found on Ortelius' maps. There is a professionally repaired worm track in an unengraved area of the map along the centerfold, just above the southern shore of Sicily.

Estimate: $800 - $950

Unsold

Closed on 2/6/2019

Archived