This list of cartographer’s works incorporated in the atlas grew with every edition and included no less than 183 names in 1601.Īfter the initial publication of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Ortelius regularly revised and expanded the atlas.įrom its original 70 maps and 87 bibliographic references in the first edition in 1570, the atlas grew through its 31 editions to encompass 183 references and 167 charts in 1612.Īn engraved map and colored by hand from Ortelius’s atlas Teatrum Orbis Terarum, Antwerp, 1570 In the bibliography, all the cartographers whose work was reprinted in the atlas were referenced and documented. In the Ortelius atlas, however, the maps were standardized, all similar in style and size arranged logically by continent, region, and state. Previously, groupings of maps were only created for individual one-off orders. The atlas incorporated 53 charts from various cartography masters. Ortelius’s Atlas consisted of a collection of the best maps, refined by himself, combined into one map or split across multiple pages of the same size. Gilles Coppens de Diest from Antwerp was the original publisher, and copper printing plates were engraved explicitly for the atlas. This atlas was the first time that the entirety of Western European knowledge of the world was brought together in one book. Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, which is Latin for “Theatre of the Orb of the World,” is considered to be the first real modern atlas. Compiled by Abraham Ortelius in 1570 in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of uniform maps and supporting text bound to form a single book.

Theatre of the Orb of the World – First Atlas

Abraham ortelius world map