ABRAHAM ORTELIUS

TO CHRISTOPHORUS PLANTIN,

CHIEF PRINTER TO THE KING,

Architypographo Regio: A prestigious title granted to Plantin by King Philip II of Spain, designating him as the primary royal printer in the Netherlands.

A decorative woodcut initial 'D' contains a figure, perhaps a biblical or mythological scene, set within a frame of foliage and scrolls. It has been almost ten years, most distinguished of printers, since I gave my Geographical Synonymy Original: "Synonymiam nostram Geographicam." This refers to the 1578 edition of Ortelius's work which served as a precursor to this Treasury. to you, and you gave it to those eager for good literature. During this time, I have re-read, revised, and so enlarged it that it has become an entirely new work. I have even inscribed it with a new name. However, I did not wish to seek a new patron for it. Instead, I dedicate it again and give it to the same old friend, which is you. I make it entirely yours by right. If you deem it to be of use to yourself or to the Republic of Letters, you shall make this same work public from your splendid and most well-equipped printing house. Republic of Letters: The international community of scholars and intellectuals who shared knowledge across borders through Latin correspondence and publications. Live and be well, you who are the life and value, or rather the eternity, of good books. I add this, mindful of an epigram which I read inscribed by the most famous man and a friend most devoted to both of us, Benedictus Arias Montanus, on a portrait that captured your likeness. It was as follows:

God, who had ordered the good arts to grow at this time,
Plantin, ordered you to prepare the presses.
All the useful original: "χρῆσα" (chrēsta). This Greek term refers to things that are beneficial or serviceable. writings of the learned shall remain,
Provided that pious Christopher prints them.

Antwerp of the Ambivariti: Humanist scholars often used the names of ancient tribes to refer to cities. The Ambivariti were a Gallic tribe mentioned by Julius Caesar in the region of the Meuse river.