To the bottom left, a man and a woman sit astride the cartouche’s frame, seemingly reading the Latin inscription which translates to: To the upper right, the title is surrounded by an elaborate frame, vases of flowers, and exotic birds. Two distinctive cartouches are in opposite corners (bottom left and top right) and showcase the strapwork style typical of Ortelius’ atlas maps.
![ortelius california ortelius california](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7d/dd/52/7ddd524f16e98b5135508f1e59124959.jpg)
It appeared on maps until the mid-eighteenth century. The Strait then became shorthand for a passage to China, i.e.
![ortelius california ortelius california](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/30/20/82/30208212d5bdd0154f7bc2921cfb150b--murals.jpg)
The first map to do so was Giacomo Gastaldi’s world map of 1562, followed by Zaltieri and Mercator. The gulf Polo described was actually the Gulf of Tonkin, but the province’s description was transposed from Vietnam to the northwest coast of North America. Anian derives from Ania, a Chinese province on a large gulf mentioned in Marco Polo’s travels (ch. Perhaps its greatest innovation was the early adoption of the Strait of Anian, today the Bering Strait. Japan is shown horizontally, a typical depiction of the archipelago at the time.Īs with many of the maps which made up Ortelius’ popular atlas, this map was innovative for its time. The map also offers an intriguing treatment of the northwest coast of America, California, and what is today the American Southwest. Taiwan is included, labeled as Isla Fermosa. The map provides a remarkable representation of what was then the Tartar Kingdom, extending from the Caspian Sea in the west, to China, Japan and Russia in the east. It is the earliest obtainable map to name California and is one of the first to include the Strait of Anian, which separates North America and Asia. This map covers a large section of Asia (Tartary, China and Japan) as well as the the west coast of North America,