Folio, (482 x 342 mm). 166 double page maps, in fine contemporary color; collation: A-C6, D-E4, 1-22, 22*, 23-77, 79, 81-128; a4, i-xl; A-C6. Maps 78 [Italia] and 80 [Veronae Urbis Ditio] supplied, one from a similar but slightly different Latin edition. Contemporary (publisher's?) full vellum, covers paneled in gilt, with double fleur-de-lis tools in the corners of the inner panel, center with a large gilt tool featuring a central circular boss surrounded by an elaborate arabesque pattern of interlacing floral motifs and scrolling foliage, spine finely tooled and lettered in gilt “Theatrum / Ortelii (?)”, yap edges; small losses, abrasion, and soiling to the binding but overall an impressive, solid exemplar. All in beautiful full original hand-color, old paper repairs to some small marginal worming, not touching printed image: maps 61-71, 87-89, and 92-98. A few very small holes without repairs. Two or three leaves with old paper repairs to losses to the blank margins. A few maps with soot soiling and a few more toned. Bottom margin of map 116 [Islandia] extended by about ½ inch with old paper, overall a truly handsome example of this atlas.

“If every home now owns an atlas of some sort, it is due ultimately to the conviction and example of Ortelius” (PMM 91).
This is the largest and “most complete” Ortelius atlas, with all of the additional maps that Johann Baptiste Vrients added in the years following Ortelius's death in the summer of 1598.

Van Der Krogt (31:054) says of this edition: “The 1609 (1612) Latin edition of the Theatrum is the most complete edition of this atlas. It contains elaborate preliminary matter and an introduction to cosmography by Michel Coignet, along with the Parergon and Nomenclator, dated 1609. The text of the Parergon is reset without altering the numbers. On f. D1r is a list of the twelve plates that were added to the Theatrum by Vrients. Another list mentions five plates which had been revised by Plantin.”
The following are the maps added by Vrients after Ortelius's death:Lacus Lemani (1608I-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 55, Van Der Krogt No.: 4985:31:00Inferioris German. (1608I-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 59, Van Der Krogt No.: 3000:31BBononiense-Vicent. (1608I-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 124, Van Der Krogt No.: 7113:31Reipubli. Genuens. (1608I-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 126, Van Der Krogt No.: 7080:31:00Parmae et Placent. (1608I-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 132, Van Der Krogt No.: 7250:31:00Ducatus Ferrarien. (1608I-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 133, Van Der Krogt No.: 7390:31:00Romagna Flaminia (1608I-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 134, Van Der Krogt No.: 7370:31:00Ducatus Urbini (1608I-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 135, Van Der Krogt No.: 7360:31:00Angliae & Hibern. (1606E-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 17, Van Der Krogt No.: 5000:31BIrlandiae (1606E-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 23, Van Der Krogt No.: 5900:31BGallia (1606E-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 36, Van Der Krogt No.: 4000:31CLimburgensis Duc. (1606E-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 67, Van Der Krogt No.: 3170:31:00Cataloniae Princ. (1603L-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 33, Van Der Krogt No.: 6250:31:00Deutschlanndt (1603L-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 57, Van Der Krogt No.: 2000:31BBurgundiae D.-Com. (1602S-1612S), Van Den Broecke No.: 53, Van Der Krogt No.: 4880:31B

The only Vrients map not included in this atlas was Anglia Regnum after Saxton, which appeared only in the 1603L edition of the Theatrum.

Vrients would die in 1612, at which time the matrixes for the Theatrum were purchased by Jan and Balthasar Moretus, owners of the Officina Plantiniana (the original publishing house of the atlas), and this edition was reprinted in an almost entirely unchanged form (but for the modification of the imprint on the title page to read "ANTVERPIAE, / EXTAT IN OFFICINA PLANTINIANA, / M. DC. XII."), see Van Der Krogt 31:055.

The Theatrum Orbis TerrarumOrtelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (or "Theater of the World") is widely considered to be the first modern atlas, meaning that this was the first published set of uniform maps with supporting text gathered in book form. Previous bound map collections exist, for example the Italian Lafreri atlases, but these were sets of maps selected and bound together on demand. The Theatrum, in contrast, was the best available summary of sixteenth-century cartographic knowledge, covering much of the exploration of the world in the century following the discovery of America.

The atlas was first published in 1570 in Antwerp. Ortelius’ atlas outperformed later competing atlases from other cartographic luminaries like the De Jode and the Mercator families. The broad appeal of the work is demonstrated by the array of languages in which the atlas appeared: in addition to Latin, the atlas was published with text in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and English. Between 1570 and 1612, at least 31 editions of the atlas were published in seven languages. The editions grew over time, with the first edition having 70 maps on 53 sheets, and the 1612 edition having 167.
At the time of its publication, the Theatrum was the most expensive book ever produced. Ortelius created all the maps personally, hand drawing the rough sketches. Those drawings were then interpreted into prints by his engravers Frans Hogenberg, Ambrosius Arsenius, and Ferdinand Arsenius.

After Ortelius's death in 1598, the copper plates for his atlas passed to his heirs. They, in turn, sold the collection to Jan Baptist Vrients (1522-1612) in 1601. Vrients added new maps and published the atlas until his own death in 1612. Vrients's widow then sold the plates to the Moretus brothers, who were the successors of Christoffel Plantin. Recent research has unearthed examples of the atlas with maps dated to 1640.

Denucé 1912-13 II, 136. Van Der Krogt 31:054. See PMM 91 (1570).