JODE, Gerard de (1509–1591) — *Prussia Regionis Sarmatiae Europae Nobilissimae Nova et Vera Descriptio*. Antwerp: Cornelis de Jode, 1593.

JODE, Gerard de (1509–1591) — *Prussia Regionis Sarmatiae Europae Nobilissimae Nova et Vera Descriptio*. Antwerp: Cornelis de Jode, 1593.

Copperplate engraving, paper, 365 × 495 mm, on a sheet measuring 410 × 552 mm, with text in Latin on the reverse. The paper is slightly yellowed and wavy, with traces of atlas folding, glue marks along the fold, and two small insect holes near the center of the map.

Gerard de Jode (1509–1591) was a Flemish cartographer, engraver, and publisher active primarily in Antwerp. His most significant achievement was the atlas *Speculum Orbis Terrarum* (“Mirror of the World”), first published in 1578, containing copperplate maps prized for their artistic merit and geographical accuracy. However, the atlas sold poorly, as the market was already dominated by Abraham Ortelius’s *Theatrum Orbis Terrarum*. Despite his limited commercial success during his lifetime, Gerard de Jode is highly regarded today by historians and collectors for the rarity, craftsmanship, and the high intellectual value of his maps, many of which incorporated contemporary discoveries and reflected Europeans’ rapidly expanding knowledge of the world during the Age of Discovery.

The map presented here, depicting the historical territories of Ducal Prussia and Royal Prussia, comes from the second and final edition of *Speculum Orbis Terrarum*, published posthumously by his son Cornelis de Jode in 1593. It depicts the Baltic region encompassing the territories of present-day northern Poland, the Kaliningrad Oblast, and western Lithuania, with the Baltic Sea occupying the northern part of the sheet. The copperplate engraving is distinguished by its extraordinary wealth of topographical detail, depicting the Curonian Lagoon, the Sambian Peninsula, as well as the names of the regions: Samogitia, Natangia, Lubowia, and Gallia Prussica. Rivers, lakes, and forests depicted as picturesque clusters of hills, along with hundreds of localities marked with their names, fill the composition. An elegant cartouche in the upper right corner, adorned with a ribbon ornament, contains the title in a style characteristic of the Antwerp school of cartography of the late 16th century.

The map was based on the pioneering map of Prussia by the German cartographer Caspar Henneberger from 1576, one of the earliest maps of the region based on geographical surveys and the primary cartographic source for later 16th-century depictions of Prussia. Gerard de Jode transformed Henneberger’s original map—published in Elbląg as a large-format woodcut consisting of nine sheets— into a precisely engraved copperplate composition characteristic of the Antwerp school of cartography. This is the first and only edition of this version of the map; the 1578 edition contains a small map by Henric Zell.

The Latin text on the reverse side contains a geographical and historical description of Prussia, beginning with a discussion of the etymology of the region’s name. It then presents the physical geography of the area—its geographical extent, location within climatic zones, and distances given in German and Italian miles—before discussing its internal division according to the findings of the Humanist-era geographer, Erasmus Stella.

Van der Krogt 1720:32B.