Translated, the title of this map reads, "Holland former home of the Cats". This shows Abraham Ortelius' great personal interest in history. The engraver Frans Hogenberg does not appear as such on the map, but Ortelius recalls the artist in the preface to his world atlas. The title cartouche refers to Jacob van Deventer as responsible for the map image. Indeed, Ortelius used his regional map of Holland, and it was the first edition printed in Mechelen in 1542. The regional map of Zeeland from 1547 was also used. Typical of Van Deventer's imitations are the blank areas of Friesland and eastern Brabant. After all, there were sections of text on Van Deventer's map in those places. Ortelius' map of Holland already appeared in the first edition of the 'Theatrum orbis terrarum' from 1570; it remained so until the last 'real' edition from 1612. The map shown here is the second state of the copper plate. Compared to the first state, the original waves in the North and South Seas have been replaced by numerous dots. As a result, the map image looks much calmer. The second state was published in the 1592 and 1595 editions of the "Theatrum. The presence of the page number 44 on the reverse of the pictured map shows that the 1595 edition is in question.
