This map of Russia by Abraham Ortelius is one of the most desirable he produced. It is full of fascinating folklore on eating, religion etc. It is derived from Anthony Jenkinson’s four-sheet map of Russia published in 1562. Entering a career in trading found him early on in the eastern Mediterranean. In 1555 he became a member of the Mercer’s Company, an old firm which gave birth to the Muscovy Company. Under its Governor the famous Sebastian Cabot sent out a Richard Chancellor in 1553. Cabot died in 1557 and the following year Jenkinson’s expedition left. They were charged with amongst other things finding a trading route from Moscow to Persia and China. He began at Archangel and made his way through Moscow, meeting with Ivan the Terrible, and then onto the Volga and Caspian Sea. From there they pushed on ever deeper into Asia finally reaching Bukhara in present day Uzbekistan. Jenkinson is said to have been the first foreigner to cross Russia from north to south and the first Englishman to reach so far east. He began preparation of his map on his return to England in 1560, which was published in 1562 in four sheets. Until 1988 no example was known to survive then one was located in Poland and now resides in the University Library of Wroclaw. It remains the sole survivor (illustrated in ‘The Map Collector’ no. 52 p. 29). Eight years later Abraham Ortelius published a reduced size version for his very influential ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum’. This is a fine example with Latin text from the 1595 edition. Van den Broecke (1996) no. 162; Keuning, Johannes. ‘Jenkinson’s Map of Russia.’ In ‘Imago Mundi’ 13 (1956): pp. 172-175; Skelton (1952) pl. 14.