Abraham Ortelius
1527-1598, Dutch Cartographer
Abraham Ortel, better known as Ortelius, one of the greatest names in world cartography, was born in Antwerp, of German parents on April 14, 1527. Having studied Greek, Latin and mathematics he first trained as an engraver, and subsequently worked as an illuminator or 'painter' of maps before moving into the business of selling maps, books and antiquities.
His business, which involved extensive travelling, enabled Ortelius to make contacts with international scholars and the great minds of the time concerned with exploration and cartography.
From these sources Ortelius obtained cartographical materials and information which enabled him to issue various maps in the 1560's. At this time he also published maps by his friend and fellow Flemish geographer, Gerard Mercator, amongst others.
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
A turning point in his career came in 1570, when on the encouragement of various associates and friends he gathered together a collection of maps from various contemporary sources and had them engraved and published in uniform size in book form. The 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' is now credited as being the first world atlas, because it was the first uniformly sized systematic collection of maps in book form, although amazingly, the term 'atlas' was not actually used until 20 years later by Mercator.
The 'Theatrum' achieved immediate popular and commercial success, and continued to circulate with corrections, additions and translations until 1641.
Between 1570 and 1612 alone, the atlas was published in 42 editions and in the languages Flemish, Latin, German, French, Spanish, English and Italian.
Much of the appeal and popularity of the atlas could be ascribed to the fact that Ortelius decided from the outset to dispense with the simple projections of Ptolemy's Geography, an ancient masterpiece revived for Europeans in the 15th century, whose influence was by now diminishing anyway, and to incorporate the newer work of people like Mercator and others. He was also greatly assisted in his work by the constant flow of new geographical information that embodied the great age of discovery that was now upon them.
Acknowledgement of Cartographers
Another first for Ortelius, was the fact that he was the first amongst his contemporaries to name the sources of information for his maps by mentioning the cartographers. In the first edition alone, Ortelius acknowledged the work of no less than 87 different cartographers.
Most of the wonderful maps for the 'Theatrum' were engraved by the up-and-coming, Frans Hogenberg, who created individual works of art on each page with his detailed and elaborate cartouches depicting ships, sea monsters, sphinxes, and flowers.
They remain to this day among the most important and beautiful examples of early Dutch cartography.
Subsequent editions of the Theatrum
Hogenberg, along with his partner Georg Braun, would later go on to produce a companion volume to the 'Theatrum', the 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum', which was also to find it's own revered place in cartographic history as the earliest systematic city atlas. It was later expanded to an enormous work, which by 1617, had expanded to incorporate over 500 plans and views and extended to 6 volumes.
Any subsequent editions of the 'Theatrum' after 1598 were published by Jan Baptiste Vrients, who purchased the rights after the death of Abraham Ortelius and his beneficiaries. Abraham Ortelius also compiled a collection of place names the 'Thesaurus Geographicus', and a series of historical maps known as the 'Parergon Theatri', from 1679 which were of similar importance. These were at times incorporated into the 'Theatrum'.
Abraham Ortelius died in Antwerp in 1598.
Image(s): 1. Abraham Ortelius 2. Ortelius world map 1570
