ORTELIUS Abraham &
MARCHETTI (Pietro Maria).
Theatro del Mondo di Abraamo Ortelio. Nel quale distintamente si dimonstrano, in Tauole, tutte le prouincie, regni, & paesi del mondo; con la descrittione delle Città, Territorij, Castelli, Monti, Mari, Laghi, & fiumi; ...
Ortelius’ Theatrum was a great commercial success, but it was an expensive item; Filips Galle, an associate of Ortelius, had the idea of producing a pocket version, which could reach a much larger, less affluent, market. The idea proved a good one; Galle’s Antwerp edition was a great success, and spawned two rival productions produced in Amsterdam and one from Brescia.
The Brescia copy was edited by Pietro Maria Marchetti and first published by the Compagnia Brescia in 1598; it was reprinted up to 1724. The maps are engraved in an attractive, rather naive, style by an anonymous engraver, from Galle’s plates, but with a second title added outside the engraved border. The publishers were presumably spurred on by the appearance of an Italian edition of Galle’s version, the Theatro del Mondo tradotto in lingua italiana da Giovanni Paulet …, that was published in Antwerp in 1593.
This is the rare second edition of the Brescia copy. There were two printings of the Brescia edition in 1655, this earlier one has the dedication dated July; the later edition was dated September. This copy has the ‘Carta Marina’, the world chart, printed on the verso of the address to the ‘Lettore’.
References: Koeman/Krogt, Atlantes Neerlandici, IIIA, 33A:02 Variant A; cf. Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici, III, Ort 70, notes.
