Map of Africa 1593 – Speculum Orbis Terrae “Africae Vera Forma, et Situs”, Jode, Cornelis de This extremely rare map is an interesting amalgamation of cartographic sources. Cornelis produced this map for the second edition of the Speculum after the death of his father in 1591. It replaced the African map of the first edition, which had been attributed to Gastaldi. This map retains Gastaldi’s continental outline, with the interior largely based on Mercator’s world map of 1569. This is most evident in the river systems, including Sachaf Lac as the source of the Zabere (Zembere), Cuama and R. d S. Spirito rivers in southern Africa. The map also incorporates information from Ortelius, including the location of Zanzibar on the southwest coast. The map is beautifully decorated with ships and sea monsters, and depictions of the indigenous people scattered throughout the map. Unfortunately, Cornelis’s atlas suffered the same fate as his father’s and only a few copies were sold. After Cornelis’s death, the copper plates were sold to Jan Baptist Vrients, the publisher of Ortelius’s atlas, who acquired them only to prevent them from being republished. As a result, the map is very rare.
Map of Africa 1593 – Speculum Orbis Terrae
“Africae Vera Forma, et Situs”, Jode, Cornelis de
This extremely rare map is an interesting combination of cartographic sources.
Cornelis prepared this map for the second edition of the Speculum after his father’s death in 1591.
It replaced the African map of the first edition, which had been attributed to Gastaldi.
This map retains Gastaldi’s continental outline, with the interior based largely on Mercator’s world map of 1569.
This is most evident in the river systems, including Sachaf lac as the source of the Zabere (Zembere), Cuama and R. d S. Spirito rivers in southern Africa.
The map also incorporates information from Ortelius, including the location of Zanzibar on the southwest coast. The map is beautifully decorated with ships and sea monsters, and depictions of the indigenous people scattered throughout the map. Unfortunately, Cornelis’s atlas suffered the same fate as his father’s and only a few copies were sold.
After Cornelis’s death, the copper plates were sold to Jan Baptist Vrients, the publisher of Ortelius’s atlas, who acquired them only to prevent them from being republished. As a result, the map is very rare.
