CONCERNING THE GEOGRAPHICAL TREASURY

OF ABRAHAM ORTELIUS, ROYAL GEOGRAPHER, MOST DISTINGUISHED MAN.

The original Latin title includes the abbreviation V. CL., standing for Vir Clarissimus, a formal mark of respect for a man of high social or scholarly standing.

A Poem.

Three gods, the children of Saturn, were once in a contest,
To see to whom the Treasury of Ortelius should yield.
Jupiter, who looks out upon all things from the eternal sky,
Said: "Let this book belong to my empire."
Neptune on the other side, and on the other he whom Tartarus obeys,
Each claimed their own portions for themselves.
The first claims the lands, the second claims the seas for himself,
The third claims the dreaded names of the infernal abyss.
The fighting had gone far enough, when Pallas, joined by the Muses,
Said: "No part of this book shall belong to any of you."
You, Father, rule the sky and lands; you, Uncle, rule the sea;
You, rule the black currents of the house of Tartarus.
This work is owed to us, for with our help
Our Ortelius brought this labor into the light.
We told him of every place of the sea and every place of the land,
And where the foul places of the Stygian lake are found.
Styx was the principal river of the underworld in Greek mythology. By including it, the poet suggests Ortelius's geographical index is so complete it even covers the realms of the dead.
The gods yielded at such a voice: "To Minerva
And to the Muses, we leave Ortelius entirely."

Franciscus Raphelengius the Younger was a scholar and the son of the famous printer Frans van Ravelingen, who was Ortelius's friend and associate.