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European voyages of discovery from the end of the Fifteenth leading into the Sixteenth Centuries caused a cartographic explosion. The appearance of new lands demanded new maps. Cartographic conventions dating to the classical period were modified then supplanted to accommodate new data. New principles of mathematics and cosmography were applied to depict the world as it was becoming known. Humanistic forces added to the demand for cartography. So did imperial ambitions and economic competition. It was a pivotal period in the history of the world.
World maps of this period are uniquely satisfying as the focus of study and collection. We welcome inquiries for more information about any of our maps, and we invite you to our gallery to see these treasures in person.
See Collection
Curated by Michael C. Foley
Map Curator
Arader Galleries New York.
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Ruysch was a cosmopolitan figure. Flemish or German or Netherlandish by birth, he lived in Cologne, Rome, England and importantly, in Portugal. From England, it is claimed, he himself sailed west as far as the American coast; thus he is the first mapmaker to have traveled to America.
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JOHANNES RUYSCH (ca 1460-1533). Universalior Cogniti Orbis... 1508
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$ 325,000.00
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Waldseemuller’s introduction by his colleague Mathias Ringmann described the map as reflecting the voyages of “the Admiral” (Christopher Columbus), so this map is often called the “Admiral’s Map.” The map is among the first to acknowledge the existence of the Americas and to include all of Africa. It also included an updated coastline of Asia and an improved shape for India.
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WALDSEEMULLER, Martin (1470-1520). Orbis Typus Universalis luxta. 1513
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$ 45,000.00
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THE FIRST AVAILABLE PRINTED MAP TO BEAR THE NAME AMERICA
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Peter Apian (1495-1552). Tipus Orbis Universalis...1520
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$ 90,000.00
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Bordone included a world map in Isolario, for which he chose an oval projection. As Shirley notes, “[f[or a long time Bordone’s world map was cited as the first drawn on an oval projection, prior to the discovery of Francesco Rosselli’s map of c. 1508 using this form of construction.
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Benedetto di BORDONE (1460-1531) [Untitled World Map]. 1547.
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$ 7,000.00
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Fine’s map was the finest rendering of the world up to its date, although it retained the connection between North America and Asia that was seen in the Contarini-Rosselli map of 1506 and Ruysch of 1507. However, the monumental discoveriesm made since the creation of these maps, which forever altered the coastlines, find a place on Fine’s map.
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ORONCE FINE. Nova, Et Integra Universi Orbis Descriptio. Paris, 1541.
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$ 90,000.00
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The map is famous and sought after however for its decoration, which was likely the work of Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1593). The map and the margins outside the oval projection are filled with scenes, real and fanciful, including sea monsters adorning the waves of the oceans, exotic animals and landscape views with curious classical architectural structures around the margins, along with less benign scenes depicting acts of cannibalism and animal sacrifice.
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SEBASTIAN MUNSTER (1488-1552) and HANS HOLBEIN, the Younger (1497-1543). Typus Cosmographicus Universalis. Basel: Johannes Hervagius, 1532
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$ 55,000.00
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In the words of Rodney Shirley (1983) this map “is one of the earliest world maps available to a collector, and is an unsophisticated but attractive rendering of what was generally known of the world at that time.”
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Laurent FRIES (ca. 1485-1532) and Martin WALDSEEMULLER (1470-1520). Tabula Nova Totius Orbis.1541
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$ 9,000.00
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This example of Floriano’s map is in excellent condition, with handsome examples of decorative strapwork and circular portraits of Ptolemy and Floriano in the top corners. Very few examples of Floriano’s map were issued in the sixteenth century and many fewer survive today. It is legendary for its rarity.
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Antonio FLORIANUS (1656-1721). [World Map]. 1555
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$ 150,000.00
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Among the finest world maps found in any composite atlas is Cosmographia universalis ab Orontio olim descripta by Giovanni Paolo Cimerlino (1534/35-1609 after). Cimerlinus’ map is extremely rare. Only two copies have appeared at auction in decades: one at Sotheby’s London in 2011 and one at Christie’s Paris in 2006 (a proof before letters). There are only four other known copies: one at Harvard, one in the British Library, another in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and the last at the John Carter Brown Library.
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Giovanni Paolo CIMERLINUS (1534/1535-1609 after) Cosmographia universalis ... 1566
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$ 225,000.00
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Like all Dutch mapmakers, Plancius did not hesitate to build on the cartographic work of others, in this case, on Rumold Mercator’s double hemisphere world map of 1587. He was also among the first to appreciate the value of earlier Portuguese charts, and incorporated information from them into his maps. The quality of his work is reflected in his 1602 appointment as official cartographer to the powerful Dutch East India Company or VOC.
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Petrus PLANCIUS (1552-1622). Orbis Terrarum...1590
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$ 18,000.00
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Map historians refer to a group of loosely organized map makers active in 16th century Venice as the “Lafreri School.” Lafreri School maps represent the high-water-mark of Italian cartography before the center of mapmaking moved north to the Netherlands.
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Arnoldo di ARNOLDI (d. 1602). Universale descrittione... 1634
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$ 135,000.00
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![Benedetto di BORDONE (1460-1531) [Untitled World Map]. 1547.](http://aradernyc.com/cdn/shop/files/Bordone_WorldMap_580x.jpg?v=1708632961)
![Antonio FLORIANUS (1656-1721). [World Map]. 1555](http://aradernyc.com/cdn/shop/files/Florianus_WorldMap_GlobeGores_580x.jpg?v=1708720622)
