![]() On one such visit to England, possibly seeking temporary refuge from religious persecution, he met William Camden whom he is said to have encouraged in the production of the Britannia.Ī turning point in his career was reached in 1564 with the publication of a World Map in eight sheets of which only one copy is known: other individual maps followed and then – at the suggestion of a friend - he gathered together a collection of maps from contacts among European cartographers and had them engraved in uniform size and issued in 1570 as the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Atlas of the Whole World). Traveling widely, especially to the great book fairs, his business prospered and he established contacts with the literati in many lands. "Abraham Ortel, better known as Ortelius, was born in Antwerp and after studying Greek, Latin and mathematics set up business there with his sister, as a book dealer and ‘painter of maps'. In 1570 he published the first comprehensive collection of maps of all parts of the world, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum ("Theatre of the World"), the first modern atlas as we know it. It should be remembered, of course, that speeds were so much slower when travelling in the sixteenth century that exact directions could easily be obtained by word of mouth provided the general route was known.Įxamples of this map may be found with original colour or uncoloured and whilst an early coloured example is preferable for a collection, the extra premium on the price may put this beyond many collector's pockets."Ībraham Ortelius is the most famous and most collected of all early cartographers. No roads, rivers or bridges are shown, although towns where fords would have been are indicated, but it would have been practically useless as a route map. Many of the names betray its ecclesiastical sources it was issued only about thirty years after the dissolution of the Monasteries and quite a number of religious institutions shown on it no longer existed when it was published. "This is probably the earliest map of the British Isles still readily available in the early 1980s, and the collector will at once see that the proportions of Ireland and Scotland compared with England and Wales are not correct but, nevertheless, it was an influential map with a very wide circulation. Ormyskyrk for Ormskirk and Dantre for Daventry, and the omission of the relatively important see of Peterborough." Flemish influence - and/or a misreading of the text - is evident in the rendering of some of the names, e.g. Many of the maps in Ortelius' atlas were engraved by Francis Hogenberg, but whether he was personally responsible for the British Isles map is not established for certain. The cartouche containing descriptive text is surrounded by ornate strapwork there is a royal coat of arms, a compass and scale, and five ships. Ortelius' British Isles map is distinguished by a more sophisticated and ebullient style of engraving than most of the German and Italian examples hitherto. Through its launching, pre-eminence in map publishing was transferred from Italy to the Netherlands, leading to over 100 years of Dutch supremacy in all facets of cartographical production. He was the first publisher to have the latest maps from the best sources engraved to a uniform size for his atlas. Rather, he was an entrepreneurial map dealer, a keen collector of coins, and an active traveller and correspondent. ![]() Unlike Mercator, Ortelius was not an engraver and only prepared a few maps himself, notably those appearing under his name in the classical section of his atlas, or the 'Parergon'. ![]() "Abraham Ortelius map of the British Isles is based directly on the large map by his friend Gerard Mercator, to whom due acknowledgement appeared among the many prominent cartographers listed by Ortelius in the preamble of his new atlas, the 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum'. ![]()
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