Theatrum Orbis Terrarum

This article is about the atlas. The work Theatrum orbis terrarum, sive, Atlas novus by Blaeu 1635 see Atlas Maior

Frontispiece of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum , 1571

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (also Ortelius-Atlas ) is considered the first modern and also the first commercially successful atlas .

The Atlas

Typus Orbis Terrarum , world map from 1570

The atlas published by Abraham Ortelius and financed by Gillis Hooftman , an Antwerp banker and shipowner, was first printed in Antwerp on May 20, 1570 and consists of a collection of map sheets, completed by a text bound in book form. After the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was first published , Ortelius revised and expanded the atlas at regular intervals and reissued it in various formats several times until his death in 1598. As a result of this and later revisions, the scope of the atlas grew from originally 70 maps and 87  bibliographical references in the 31st edition published in 1612 to 167 maps and 183 references.

The Ortelius Atlas is seen as a summary of the cartographic knowledge of the 16th century . The atlas was already very popular in its day, four editions were printed in the year of publication alone. Many of the maps contained in the atlas are based on sources that either no longer exist or that are very rare. Ortelius has attached a unique list of sources with the names of contemporary cartographers to the atlas.

In the last edition of 1624 the Tabula Peutingeriana can be found in the appendix. This was created in 1598 and is considered the best reproduction of this map (better than the original, which has been damaged in the meantime).

Web links

Commons : Theatrum Orbis Terrarum  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Atlas Ortelius 1571 , scan of the edition on Wikimedia Commons.
• Text on the Ortelius Atlas in the Library of Congress .
• Marcel van den Broecke: orteliusmaps.com → Index of the Plates of Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by Ortelius (place) -number - with Parergon (attachment); the webpage shows scans of multiple issues .

Individual cards in detail:

• Orbis Terrarum type. Analysis by Dr. James Walker , University of Oregon.
• Orbis Terrarum type . Birmingham Public Library (high definition view).

See also: Abraham Ortelius: Web Links - More.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cartographica Neerlandica Background for Ortelius Map No. 227 , orteliusmaps.com