Abraham Ortelius
Cartographer, Belgian 1527-1598
Abraham Ortelius was born in Antwerp. Ortelius was the Latin version of his real Dutch name Ortel. Ortelius, respectively Ortel had studied Greek, Latin and mathematics. He established himself in Antwerp as a book and map dealer and cartographer. He became famous with a very successful world atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. This was probably the first collection of maps in book form twenty years before Mercator published his atlas. In 1570, when the first edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was published, the word atlas was not in use yet. The engraver was Frans Hogenberg.
The Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was so successful that it had to be reprinted four times in its first year of publication. Altogether the atlas was published in 42 editions from 1570 to 1612 and in 7 languages - Latin, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, English and Italian.
The Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was so successful that it had to be reprinted four times in its first year of publication. Altogether the atlas was published in 42 editions from 1570 to 1612 and in 7 languages - Latin, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, English and Italian.