DE JODE, GERARD (1509-91) - CORNELIS DE JODE (1568-1600). Totius Orbis Cogniti Universalis Descriptio. Antwerp: 1589, but [Arnold Coninx for the widow and heirs of Gerard de Jode, 1593].

Single sheet (14 x 20 inches, full margins showing the plate mark). A fine engraved map of the world on a rectangular projection, attributed to Marinus of Tyre, the title and caption within a decorative frame along the top, with two small hemispheres inset on either side, the geographic features follow those of Mercator and Ortelius, the two smaller maps showing the western and eastern hemispheres on Roger Bacon's circular projection (old vertical fold).

One of two world maps published in the second edition of the de Jodes' exceptionally rare "Speculum orbis terrae", published in 1593.The imprint at bottom states that the map was "made" by Cornells de Jode in November 1589 at the Academy of Douai, and published or printed by his father Gerard de Jode.

This map was prepared for the second edition of the de Jode "Speculum orbis terrarum" undertaken by Gerard de Jode and completed by his son and heir, Cornelis, as the "Speculum orbis terrae". Although a superior map to Ortelius’ version, the atlas sold poorly by comparison with Ortelius' "Theatrum...", and is the reason for comparative rarity of de Jode’s maps today.

Born in Nijmegen in 1509, Cornelis de Jode was a cartographer, engraver, printer and publisher based in Antwerp, then one of the major commercial capitals of Europe. Little is known of his early training or education, and it was not until well into his 30s, in 1547, that de Jode was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke and became a print seller. In 1550 he was licensed as a printer. He printed Jacopo Gastaldi's map of the world in 1555, Jacob van Deventer's map of Brabant in 1558, maps by Bartholomeus Musinus, Fernando Alvares Seco, and (before they became competitors) Abraham Ortelius's eight-sheet map of the world (1564). Shirley 165; Koeman Jod 2, no. 1.