Quivirae Regnv cum alijs versus Borea.

Extraordinarily rare map, the first published map devoted to the west and north-west coasts of North America.
The map not only conveys the early cartographic view of the Northwest and California coast, but also a visual sense of the myths and legends attached to the area in the 16th century.
A landmark of Alaskan and Californian cartography, the map depicts the entire west coast of North America from the North Pole to below the Tropic of Cancer. At the top we see part of the four islands which were believed to surround the North Pole, and there is an early indication of a magnetic pole in the legend. Tribesmen and their tents are accompanied by a note pointing out the similarity between domiciles in Asia and America, a reference to the popular theory of migration between the two continents.
The map appeared in the 2nd edition of De Jode's rare Speculum Orbis Terrae, one of the rarest and most sought after of all late 16th Century Atlases. The map is one of two seminal maps covering the Pacific, the second showing the east coast of Australia. (See lot 17558 in this auction).
A very rare item, with a wonderful imprint.
Gerard De Jode was the great rival of Ortelius, both made a living out of selling maps, and it seems not always on good terms. It is probable that Ortelius was responsible for a delay in the publication of Gerard de Jode's Speculum. Gerard De Jode, 18 years older than Ortelius, owned many more copper-plates for maps than Ortelius had. Ortelius did not employ highly paid engravers as De Jode had done.
De Jode received the ecclesiastical imprimatur in 1573, but it was not until 1579 that the first copies of the Speculum were sold at Plantin's shop, and only very few copies were sold.
After the death of Gerard in 1591, the business was carried on by his widow and his son Cornelis, who re-issued the Speculum in 1593. °

Reference: Burden, The Mapping of North America, 82. Alaskan Maps, 1593-2, p.14, xiii.