Galle, Philip

Philip [Filips] Galle [Gallaeus] (1537-1612) was a Dutch publisher. Born in Haarlem, he moved to Antwerp in 1569 or 1570, where he initially lived opposite Ortelius. He produced the first ever pocket-sized atlas, Spieghel der Wereld, based on Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum; the text was based on the Theatrum, and the numbers printed above the maps corresponded with the Theatrum. The first edition of the Spieghel der Wereld was published in 1577, with subsequent editions published in French in 1579 and 1583, Dutch in 1583 and 1596, and Latin in 1585. Apparently dissatisfied with the quality of the plates, Galle began a new edition in 1588, entitled Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Praecipuarum Orbis Regionum delineations, commonly known as the Epitome, replacing some of the old plates with newly engraved ones. The new plates had a cleaner style with simple double-lined borders. After 1598, the plates were passed to Jan B. Vrients, who retouched some of them and published the final editions of the Epitome in 1601 and 1602.