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A large collection of data on historical prices & wages world wide, incl. in the Low Countries, can be found on line at: http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/ Best wishes, Diederick Wildeman -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- Van: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Namens Marcel van den Broecke Verzonden: vrijdag 27 mei 2011 12:00 Aan: Discussion group for map history Onderwerp: Re: [MapHist] Query: Ortelius' Theatrumoriginal cost This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the whole list) o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + It is very hard if not impossible to define the cost of an atlas in Ortelius' time with those of today. A skilled scraftman in Ortelius'time earned somewhat less than guilder per day. Thus, to buy a copy of the 1570 edition of the Theatrum required the wage of a little more than one week. A survey of the price development of the Theatrum over time is given below: Ortelius atlas edition number of maps price per atlas price per map number of copies printed (and sold) overall yield 1570ABC 53 fl. 6,50 fl. 0,12 325 fl. 2113 1571L 53 fl. 6,50 fl. 0,12 275 fl. 1788 1571D 53 fl. 6,50 fl. 0,12 275 fl. 1788 1572F 53 fl. 6,50 fl. 0,12 150 fl. 975 1572G 53 fl. 6,50 fl. 0,12 250 fl. 1625 1573L 75 fl. 9,00 fl. 0,12 75 fl. 675 1573L1stAdd 18 fl. 2,05 fl. 0,11 100 fl. 205 1573G1stAdd 16 fl. 2,00 fl. 0,13 50 fl. 100 1573G 69 fl. 9,00 fl. 0,13 75 fl. 675 1573D1stAdd 16 fl. 2,00 fl. 0,13 75 fl. 150 1573D 69 fl. 9,00 fl. 0,13 75 fl. 675 1574F1stAdd 16 fl. 2,00 fl. 0,13 50 fl. 100 1574F 69 fl. 9,00 fl. 0,13 75 fl. 675 1574L 70 fl. 9,00 fl. 0,13 175 fl. 1575 1575L 70 fl. 9,00 fl. 0,13 100 fl. 900 1579L2ndAd 23 fl. 2.05 fl. 0,09 250 fl. 513 1579L(AB) 93 fl. 12,00 fl. 0,13 500 fl. 6000 1580G2ndAd 23 fl. 2,05 fl. 0,16 50 fl. 103 1580/1589G 93 fl. 12,00 fl. 0,13 350 fl. 4200 1581F 93 fl. 14,00 fl. 0,15 400 fl. 5600 1584L3rdAdd 24 fl. 3,50 fl. 0,15 100 fl. 350 1584L 112 fl. 16,00 fl. 0,14 750 fl. 12000 1584G3rdAdd 24 fl. 3,50 fl. 0,15 75 fl. 262 1585F3rdAdd 24 fl. 3,50 fl. 0,15 75 fl. 262 1587F 112 fl. 16,00 fl. 0,14 250 fl. 4000 1588S 100 fl. 16,00 fl. 0,16 300 fl. 4800 1590L4thAdd 22 fl. 4,00 fl. 0,18 100 fl. 400 1591G4thAdd 22 fl. 4,00 fl. 0,18 75 fl. 300 1592L 134 fl. 20,00 fl. 0,15 525 fl. 10500 1595L5thAdd 17 fl. 3,50 fl. 0,20 100 fl 350 1595L 147 fl. 23,00 fl. 0,16 500 fl. 11500 1597G5thAdd 17 fl. 3,50 fl. 0,20 75 fl. 262 1598/1610D 91 fl. 20,00 fl. 0,22 100 fl. 2000 1598F 119 fl. 20,00 fl. 0,17 525 fl. 10500 Total 7225 fl. 82282 Table 1: Editions and Additamenta produced during Ortelius' lifetime, number of maps for each edition, costs per atlas, costs per map sheet, number of copies of each edition and total yield for each edition. Prices of the above table are based on uncoloured atlases, the kind which Ortelius preferred (in spite of the fact that he started his career as a colourist) because it allows better inspection of details on the map. Coloured atlases cost about twice the price of uncoloured atlases. Prices per map sheet almost doubled in the course of 28 years. Does this reflect inflation in Antwerp over this period? Since Ortelius financed all editions except the 1588 Spanish edition, which was made at the expense of Plantin, his total turnover of almost 80,000 guilders represents a very large sum indeed at this time. A competent printer in Plantin's workshop around 1580 earned about fl. 100 per year, and a competent typesetter about fl 150. A bricklayer in Antwerp at this time earned about fl. 140 per year. Let us compare these prices of the various editions of Ortelius' Theatrum with atlases of contemporaries on the basis of data as given in Denucé, Voet and Koeman. De Jode's 1578 Speculum Orbis Terrarum, which was published in 1579 cost fl. 6 and contained 65 map sheets. This amounts to fl. 0,17 per sheet. As we have just seen, Ortelius map sheets had a price of fl. 0,13 in the 1579 edition of the Theatrum, which is considerably lower. De Jode's 1593 Speculum Orbis Terrae had 85 map sheets and cost fl. 12, which is fl. 0,14 per map sheet. When we compare this with Ortelius' 1592 Latin edition of the Theatrum we see in table 1 that Ortelius' price per map sheet was then fl. 0,15 per map sheet, almost the same as De Jode. The Civitates Orbis Terrarum series of Braun and Hogenberg, which in many respects (but not as concerns its texts) resembles Ortelius' Theatrum but deals with cities rather than regions, provides interesting data: Ortelius Theatrum edition Price per map sheet Braun and Hogenberg edition Price per map sheet 1572F, 1572G fl. 0,12 1572, Part 1 fl. 0,11 1575L fl. 0,13 1575, Part 2 fl. 0,11 1581F fl. 0,15 1581, Part 3 fl. 0,11 1588S fl. 0,16 1588, Part 4 fl. 0,11 1598F fl. 0,17 1597, Part 5 fl 0,11 Table 2: Prices per map sheet of Ortelius and Braun and Hogenberg compared. The gradual rise in price per map sheet which we observed in table 1 does not seem to have been the result of inflation, in which case we would expect a similar rise in the Civitates Orbis Terrarum, unless inflation was very different between Antwerp and Cologne in the last part of the 16th century. Let us therefore turn to Mercator, who lived and worked for most of his life in Duisburg. Voet presents the following data: Ortelius Theatrum edition Price per map sheet Mercator edition Price per map sheet 1592L fl. 0,15 Part 1 & 2, 1592 fl. 0,16 1598F fl. 0,17 Part 1 & 2, 1599 fl. 0,16 1598F fl. 0,17 Part 1, 2 & 3, 1599 fl. 0,18 Table 3: Prices per map sheet of Ortelus and Mercator compared. By part 1, 2 and 3 of Mercator's atlas, Voet presumable refers to (vdK Atlantes Vol. I) atlas 1:001, 1:002 and 1:003. As table 3 shows, there are no substantial differences between the prices of Mercator's atlas per map sheet as compared with those of Mercator. All we can conclude is that Ortelius, and to a more limited extend and over a shorter period of time, as well as Mercator gradually raised their prices, whereas the price of the Braun and Hogenberg town atlas remained stable. We can still maintain that the Theatrum was the most expensive large book of the 16th century, but that this was not due to the price per map sheet, but to the fact that it contained more map sheets than its closest competitor, Mercator's atlases. Returning to Ortelius as a merchant, we may say that his increasing affluence was due to the fact that his atlas was immensely popular and sold well in spite of its high price, viz. more than 7000 copies, for over fl. 80 000, and due to the fact that he financed and organised the production and sales of his own profit on each atlas sold was considerable. He spent these earnings in the way that best served his scientific interests: on maps, books, manuscripts, coins and objects of ancient and natural history, and on ever bigger premises which served as museum and library to house all these collections. Thus, Ortelius' talents as an artist, a humanist, scholar, collector and merchant were in great harmony with each other and together created the well-deserved reputation which Ortelius acquired in the course of his life as prominent Renaissancist. Marcel van den Broecke Cartographica Neerlandica http://orteliusmaps.com/ tel. +31 30 2202 396 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sebastian Diaz Angel" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, May 27, 2011 12:35 AM Subject: [MapHist] Query: Ortelius' Theatrumoriginal cost > This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to > the whole list) > o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o > + > > Dear Maphistlist > > Does anyone knows how much did the Theatrum Orbis terrarum originally > costed in nowadays currencies? > > In Imhof (1998) the price of the Theatrum (1570) are in guilders: the > price per copy was 6 guilders, 10 stuivers" > > does anyone knows how to convert these currencies? > > > thanks in advance > > > Sebastian Diaz > www.razoncartografica.com > > _______________________________________________ > MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography > hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. > The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of > the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of > Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for > the views of the author. > List Information: http://www.maphist.nl > > Maphist mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/maphist > > _______________________________________________ MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. List Information: http://www.maphist.nl Maphist mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/maphist _______________________________________________ MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. List Information: http://www.maphist.nl Maphist mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/maphist
