FINE, ORONCE | Nova, et integra universi orbis descriptio. [Paris:] Christian Wechel, 1531

Property from a Distinguished Private Collection

FINE, ORONCE

Nova, et integra universi orbis descriptio. [Paris:] Christian Wechel, 1531

Full-sheet woodcut map of the world (11 7/8 x 17 in.; 301 x 432 mm). Spandrel vignettes, one panel of inset type; one scarcely discernable pinhole, a tiny surface abrasion or thin spot in the paper, one neatly repaired tear. Handsomely framed with UVIII Plexiglass.

First state of Fine's groundbreaking and influential double-cordiform projection, the first printed map to depict the world from the poles. The right-hand "heart" is dominated by the large southern continent labelled "Terra Australis recenter inventa, sed nondu[m] plene cognita" (literally "southern land recently found, but not yet fully known"), predating the earliest recognized discovery of Antarctica by nearly three centuries.

While Christian Wechel likely sold separate copies of this map, this example, like most copies, derived from a copy of the 1532 Paris edition of Johann Huttich and Simon Grynaeus's popular compendium of voyages, Novus orbis regionum.

REFERENCE:

Shirley 66