- Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
:for "
Theatrum orbis terrarum , sive,Atlas novus " byBlaeu 1635, seeAtlas Maior
thumb|400px|right|In_1570 (May 20 ) was issued, by Gilles Coppens de Diest at Antwerp,Ortelius ’ "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum ", the "first modern atlas" (of 53 maps). ThreeLatin editions of this (besides a Dutch, a French and a German edition) appeared before the end of1572 ; 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 about1612 . This is the world map from this atlas.]"Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" IPA2|tɛˈɑːtrʊm ˈɔrbɪs tɛˈrːɑːrʊm ("Theatre of the World") is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by
Abraham Ortelius and originally printed onMay 20 ,1570 , in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of uniformmap sheets and sustaining 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-centurycartography . Many of his atlas' maps were based upon sources that no longer exist or are extremely rare. Ortelius appended a unique source list (the "Catalogus Auctorum") identifying the names of contemporary cartographers, some of whom would otherwise have remained obscure.After the initial release of "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum", Ortelius regularly revised and expanded the atlas, reissuing it in various formats until his death in 1598. From its original seventy maps and eighty-seven bibliographic references in the first edition (1570), the atlas grew through its thirty-one editions to encompass 183 references and 167 maps in 1612.
Since the 1630s, the
Blaeu family issued their work under a similar title, eg. "Theatrum orbis terrarum , sive,Atlas Novus ".ee also
*
Ancient world maps
*History of cartography
*List of geographers
*Mappa Mundi
*Here be dragons
*Terra incognita External links
* [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gnrlort.html Text zum Ortelius Atlas in der Library of Congress]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gnrlort.html Library of Congress, Historical Collections for the National Digital Library, Ortelius Atlas]
* [http://www.mirroroftheworld.com.au/exploration/venturing_out/theatrum_orbis.php High resolution zoomable images from the 1574 edition] - Collection item from theState Library of Victoria
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