Colored example of De Jode's map of Scandinavia, the Baltic and Gulf of Finland, extending from Iceland and the Coast of Scotland to Novograd, St. Petersburg and the Norwegian Sea.

The map is richly engraved by Joannes and Lucas van Deutecum's, perhaps the most famous of all Dutch engravers of the period. The map is richly embellished with sailing vessels and sea monsters.

First published in 1578, De Jode's atlas is technically superior to the work of Ortelius. However, Ortelius' ability to produce his atlas first, coupled with his superior commercial connections, probably resulted in his ability to block or delay the issuance of a privilege for publication of De Jode's atlas for nearly a decade. It doomed De Jode's Speculum Orbis Terrae to become a commercial failure, hence the rarity of the maps on the market. A second and expanded edition of the atlas was issued in 1593.