Beschreibung:

(MAP) ORTELIUS, ABRAHAM Maris Pacifici... [Antwerp, 1589]. Engraved hand-colored map of the Pacific, taken from Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. First edition, first state with "1589" in the cartouche at the lower left, Latin text to verso. This rare map is significant because it is the first to be devoted to the Pacific and to show Japan and New Guinea as geographically closer to Asia than to America. It is also one of the earliest to differentiate North and South America by name and to show California as a peninsula. It depicts the west coast of North America more accurately than any maps before it. Framed in double-sided plexi-glass. Watermarks to left side affecting cartouche and island of New Guinea; some brown spots to upper margin. Size of sheet 17 3/4 x 22 inches. Estimate $ 2,000-4,000 Literature: Burden 74. Soiling to margins; three brownspots to upper margin; dampstaining affecting left side of map and cartouche.