![]() Apart from this phantom, the map is known in a single state. Van den Broecke notes a possible proof state - lacking the identifying letters for the monsters - but is skeptical that actually exists (having appeared in a sole 1992 auction record). From that point, it remained unchanged for the remainder of its publication run. Publication History and CensusAlthough dated 1585, this map did not appear until the 1587 French edition of the Theatrum. Also noted are floating lumps of ambergris, and floes of driftwood - an important resource in tree-starved Iceland! The sagas discuss families warring over the right to harvest driftwood. The ice floes on the northeast coast and the bears gamboling upon them are drawn from Olaus Magnus. Others, such as the sea-bulls marked 'K', are fantastical. Some, such as the hippocampus (Hroshvalur) come from ancient myth. Many of these creatures can be attributed to whale sightings, while others resemble recognizable walruses and rays. Each of the creatures - and other notable wonders - are assigned a letter, which keys to a text on the verso (Spanish). The Wonders of the SeaWhile the topography and toponymy of Iceland presented here is attributable to Thorlaksson, the teeming waters are populated with elements drawn from the 1539 Olaus Magnus map. Moreover, there are surviving lists of Icelandic settlements and geographical features positively attributed to Thorlaksson that would have been necessary in producing this map. Thorlaksson was a mathematician and astronomer and thus was equipped with the necessary cartographic skills. It is believed that the map was provided to Vedel by an Icelander, specifically Gudbrandur Thorlaksson, Bishop of Holar. Vedel likely did not visit Iceland and it is not credible that he could have produced so accurate and detailed a map without having done so. Case in point, here he credits the Danish priest and historiographer, Anders Sørensen Vedel. Ortelius did not perform personal surveys, rather he sourced and compiled cartographic data from the best authorities, with scrupulous attribution. ![]() The Bishop's MapEnter Ortelius' map, the first to present the island with accurate detail, topography, and toponomy - it is in all respects superior to every preceding map. Nevertheless, the Olaus Magnus mapping of Iceland - though improved over the Bordone - is largely imaginary. Its abundant illustrations provided many of the decorative elements apparent here in Ortelius' Islandia. This nine-sheet woodcut set the standard for the mapping of northern Europe for the remainder of the century, and informed Ortelius' 1570 Septentrionalium Regionum, both for his mapping of Scandinavia and of Iceland itself. The first significant breakthrough occurred in 1539 with the printing of Olaus Magnus' Carta Marina, just two copies of which survive. The first map specifically of Iceland, the 1528 Bordone, contains a single place name: 'Islanda'. It appears first, near unrecognizably, on the 1482 Ulm Ptolemy world. The North Edge of the WorldDespite being settled by Norse mariners of the 9th century, Iceland was nearly as remote to European navigators as the Americas or Africa. It strongly evokes Iceland's astonishing terrain with its vigorously engraved mountains, and it is remarkably accurate since it is the first map of Iceland based on reports of an Icelander, Gudbrandur Thorlaksson (Guðbrandur Þorláksson c. The map is geographically important as well. Ortelius' Islandia is arguably the most famous decorative map, being the 'monster map' par excellence, as it presents a menagerie of sea monsters typically found on early maps. This is a beautiful example of the Vrients issue of Abraham Ortelius' 1587 map of Iceland. Minnesota - North Dakota - South Dakota.Massachusetts - Connecticut - Rhode Island.
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