![]() Most maps are multiples, meaning they have been produced in many copies, and so chances are that some collection, dealer, or auction house somewhere has handled it. If it has a title or other large text, it is best to copy this carefully and google it. Check for obvious marks that it is a legal reproduction. Is the printing style correct? Is there a clear plate mark?ģ. Is the paper appropriate to the age of the map?Ģ. If the applied image consists of numerous tiny dots, it is an offset lithographs will appear as a more coherent blob.ġ. When discerning a lithograph from a later offset print, using a strong magnifying glass is best. ![]() In most cases, the impression is visible to the naked eye and can be felt by running your fingertips over it. The paper must be of a certain thickness and quality to handle the force, and the printing process will leave an impression outside the map area. A plate etching is precisely that: a motif etched in reverse and then pressed onto the paper. These types are relatively easy to recognize. Woodblock cuts, copper or steel plate engravings, and lithographs are the most common printing methods. The first aspect to determine is how the map was printed. But that reproduction has none of the aura of the original work, none of its imaginative power.Īssessing whether a map is real or fake takes a trained eye. It is possible to buy a modern reproduction of an authentic antique. It is this aura, this authenticity, that makes antiques special. In the 1930s, Walter Benjamin famously argued that original works of art had an “aura,” an authenticity related to its time and place. Like a piece of authentic Louis XV furniture, a map published in the 18th century in France has a history: it has survived revolutions and wars along with the everyday dangers of accident and decay. A mass-produced object, fundamentally indistinguishable from other members of its production run, will suddenly gain value through its association, as, for example, a baseball that happens to be used for a historic play.įor many, that association is powerful. Original authentic objects carry imaginative power from their associations in time and place. However, reproductions lack the aesthetic qualities of the original. If you simply want something to fill a blank wall, a reproduction might be your best approach. The answer to this question depends on your goals. In 1612, shortly after Vrients’s death, the copperplates passed to the Moretus brothers. From 1579, Christoffel Plantin took over, and his successors continued to print Theatrum until Ortelius’ heirs sold the copperplates and the publication rights to Jan Baptist Vrients in 1601. Van Diest was succeeded by his son Anthonis in 1573, who in turn was followed by Gillis van den Rade, who printed the 1575 edition of Ortelius’ atlas. While compiled by Abraham Ortelius in the manner described above, the Theatrum was first printed by Gielis Coppens van Diest, an Antwerp printer experienced with cosmographical books. In the first edition of 1570, this list included 87 names, whereas the posthumous edition of 1603 contained no less than 183 names. The list of contributing mapmakers was kept up-to-date for decades after Ortelius’ death. ![]() This ‘ catalogus auctorum tabularum geographicum ‘ is one of the major innovations of his atlas. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Ortelius noted his sources openly and in the first edition, acknowledged no less than eighty-seven different European cartographers. Hogenberg’s re-drawn and standardized maps formed the basis of the first atlas in history (even though it was Mercator who was the first to use the term a few decades later). The engraver for most of the maps in Theatrum was none other than the famous Frans Hogenberg, who also served as the main engraver for the 16th-century urban atlas Civitates Orbis Terrarum, published with Georg Braun in 1572. It was compiled by collecting maps and charts from colleagues across the continent, which Ortelius then had engraved in a uniform size and style. The Theatrum is conventionally considered the first modern-style atlas. In 1570, he published a comprehensive collection of maps titled Theatrum orbis terrarum (Theatre of the World). Ortelius reached a turning point in his career in 1564 with the publication of a World Map in eight sheets, of which only a single copy survives. Ortelius traveled widely in pursuit of his interests, building contacts with mapmakers and literati all over the European continent. He believed geography was the ‘eye of history,’ which explains why he collected maps and historical documents with such passion. After studying Greek, Latin, and mathematics, he and his sister set up shop as book dealers and a ‘painter of maps.’ In his heart, Ortelius was, nevertheless, first and foremost a historian. Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) was born in Antwerp to Flemish parents in 1527. ![]()
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