Theatrum Orbis Terrarum

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
In 1570 (May 20) Gilles Coppens de Diest at Antwerp published 53 maps created by Abraham Ortelius under the title Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, considered the "first modern atlas".[note 1] Three Latin editions of this (besides a Dutch, a French and a German edition) appeared before the end of 1572; twenty-five editions came out before Ortelius' death in 1598; and several others were published subsequently, for the atlas continued to be in demand till about 1612. This is the world map from this atlas.
AuthorAbraham Ortelius
GenreAtlas
PublisherGilles Coppens de Diest
Publication date
1570

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Latin: [tʰɛˈaːtrũː ˈɔrbɪs tɛˈrːaːrũː], "Theatre of the Lands of the World") is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius, strongly encouraged by Gillis Hooftman[2] and originally printed on 20 May 1570 in Antwerp,[3] it consisted of a collection of uniform map sheets and supporting text bound to form a book for which copper printing plates were specifically engraved. The Ortelius atlas is sometimes referred to as the summary of sixteenth-century cartography. The publication of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570) is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography (approximately 1570s–1670s).[note 2]

  1. ^ Mercator, Gerardus; Karrow, Robert W. Jr. Atlas sive Cosmographicæ Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura (PDF). Library of Congress. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-10.
  2. ^ "Gillis Hooftman: Businessman and Patron (engl.)". Mill.arts.kuleuven.be. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  3. ^ "Map of the Gold-Producing Region of Peru. Florida. The Guastecan Region". World Digital Library. Retrieved 11 February 2013.


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