1592 Indiae Orientalis Adiacientium Typus

A superb example of Ortelius's map of Southeast Asia and the Spice Island, which was published in the first complete modern atlas of the world, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. The map is based upon Mercator's world map of 1569, presents Southeast Asia, the East Indies, Japan, and a portion of North America with the mythical city of Quivira. Examining Ortelius's Map of the Spice Islands The map centers on the Spice Islands, while providing interesting cartography of the Indian subcontinent and China. Japan is shown in a very primitive state of cartographic understanding as it appears a one massive island with archipelagos north and south consisting of theoretically hundreds of smaller islands. The spice islands are ripe with place names, save for some coastlines that were not utilized by the Dutch, namely that of Java. "BEACH, pars continentis Australis," appears just above the bottom margin and text within "Nova Guinea," notes that it is uncertain whether New Guinea is its own island or part