Türkiye - Turcici Imperii Descriptio (The Ottoman Empire); Ortelius - Turcici Imperii Descriptio (The Ottoman Empire), second plate, Spanish edition - 1581-1600

Ortelius's map of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power, printed from the second copperplate of 1579, from the scarce Spanish edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of 1588 (Van den Broecke Ort 169, 1588S96; Spanish text on the verso, page 96), in old hand-colour.
A double-page map from the Theatrum, the Ottoman dominions shown from the Balkans and the Black Sea in the north-west across Anatolia, the Levant and Mesopotamia to Persia, Egypt, the Red Sea, the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf. The title is set in the large architectural cartouche in the lower left, with putti, the arms and sea creatures, and the motto Concordia parvae res crescunt, discordia maximae dilabuntur. The seas carry sailing vessels and a sea monster; historical notes are engraved on the face of the map. Cyprus, the eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Persian Gulf and Arabia are prominently rendered. Verso: Spanish text headed EL IMPERIO TVRCICO, page 96, with a large decorated initial and the closing attribution to Laonico Chalcocondylas.
A strong impression in attractive old colour, with generous margins. Light age-toning and minor signs of handling; the customary central fold.
Van den Broecke, Ortelius Atlas Maps, Ort 169, 1588S96. Van der Krogt, Koeman's Atlantes Neerlandici, IIIA, 8100:31B. Ortelius, Theatro de la Tierra Universal, Antwerp 1588.