World maps & models

Ortelius’s world map with an imagined southern continent

Historical record

Conjectural southern continent.

What this record establishes

Institutional record documented; does not authenticate interpretations.

Record details

Original title
Typus orbis terrarum
Artifact date
1598
Holding institution
British Library
Identifier
Maps C.2.d.7
Record type
individual_artifact

Catalog context

Curatorial navigation label; original categories and source identity retained.

Catalog review date reported: 2026-10-28. This is inherited catalog metadata, not a new verification of the linked source.

Ortelius world map, 1598 — related third-plate impression

Related 1598 impression of Ortelius’s Typus Orbis Terrarum, showing a conjectural southern continent. This ornate third-plate map has corner medallions; the British Library image catalogued 1598 has a cloud border and is not the same printed plate. This image is historical cartography, not a surveyed outline of Antarctica.

Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, Antwerp 1598, third plate. Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps, stock 51516; via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Image source record · Reuse terms

Image rights and evidence limits

Public-domain faithful reproduction of Ortelius (died 1598) map, published 1598, explicitly marked PD-old-100-expired and PD-Art on Commons. Source dealer Ruderman current Terms, Sale of High-Resolution Images, expressly does not claim copyright in images of works before the US copyright threshold; charges are facilitation fees, not copyright ownership. Commons delivered existing full-resolution scan. This is not a clearance of British Library digitization.

Image existence does not prove a linked claim. Consult image-specific captions and reuse conditions.

Sources and what they support

Links document the record, the claim’s circulation, an assessment, or reuse terms as labeled. A source link is not automatically corroboration.

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