Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (first modern atlas)
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum de Ortelius (primer atlas moderno)
- Date
- 1570 · confidence high
- Place
- Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium
- Credited to
- Abraham Ortelius
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A uniform collection of about fifty engraved maps in a common format, with explanatory text and a list of sources. It is regarded as the first modern atlas, in the sense of a homogeneous volume of same-size maps.
There were earlier map collections (Lafreri atlases), but not uniform ones; hence "first modern atlas" is a convention.
What it led to
- commercial success of the atlas as a genre and its translation into several languages
- credit to mapmakers through the catalogue of sources