ABRAHAM ORTELIUS (1527–1598) Tartariae sive Magni Chami Regni Typus [Tartary, or the Kingdom of the Great Khan]. 1570.

Copper engraving, hand-coloured in watercolour. Accompanying Latin text on the reverse. Sheet 58 x 45 cm; sight 47.5 x 35 cm. Map in collectible condition. The map is richly decorated with elegant cartouches, sailing ships in the ocean, fantastic sea monsters and flying fish, tents with figures of rulers, nomadic tents and a variety of explanatory Latin inscriptions. For example: ‘Here the precious ruby stone is found’, ‘A marble bridge 300 paces long’, ‘In these mountains stones are mined which are used to light fires instead of wood’, ‘Here grows fragrant calamus’, ‘According to Pliny, the Scythian Ocean has fresh water; he also claims that there are many islands in it, as Marco Polo also says, but neither of them indicates their number or location’, etc. The map shows the vast expanses of Northern and Central Asia from the Caspian and Black Seas to the Pacific Ocean. It also shows the eastern part of Muscovy, China, Japan and the then little-explored west coast of North America (including an early depiction of California and the Strait of Anian). It was part of the atlas ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum’ compiled by the famous Flemish geographer, cartographer and publisher Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598). The atlas was first published in 1570 and was reissued many times in several languages over the following 40 years. Large strapwork cartouche with a central shield-shaped panel surrounded by a massive border of interlacing carved bands imitating rolled leather straps or cut parchment.