Today, the person in whose location the gadgets will never get lost. It will help out Google Maps or Yandex.Maps. Thanks to technology, we are confident that applications are kept up to date in real time. But it was not always so.

The map is one of the most outstanding inventions of mankind. She has always been more than just a navigation tool. Throughout history, people followed the maps, created and constantly updated them to pave their way around the world. Maps were used to illustrate discoveries and convey new ideas.

The earliest maps were discovered by archaeologists among the cave paintings. Their gradual development led to the era of great geographical discoveries. In the 16th century, they were a mixture of fantasy, real knowledge and assumptions. Cartography has become a real art. Antique cards are highly regarded by collectors today.

Abraham Ortelius is a key figure in the history of cartography. He is known as the inventor of the atlas book containing several maps under one cover.

Ortelius was born in Antwerp, Belgium, on April 14, 1527, at the height of the era of humanism. At this time, in Western Europe, there was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, history, the Greek language and philosophy. The 16th century was a time of research, revolutionary inventions, and a new world view.

Ortelia was fascinated by new discoveries and travels. He began to collect books, prints, paintings, wall maps and coins from all over Europe. During one of his trips to Poitiers, France, Ortelius met the cartographer Gerard Mercator, who inspired him to draw up maps on his own. The career of the master began in 1547 with the post of colorist cartographer in the guild of St. Luke in Antwerp. He then continued with Plantin in 1587. The first maps of Ortelius were large wall maps of the world, Egypt, the Holy Land, Asia, Spain and the Roman Empire – and since then it has been hooked.

The world’s first atlas

The first atlas of Ortelius was called Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Spectacle of the circle of the earth). First printed in 1570, it contained a collection of 53 cards, made in the same style and size, on copper plates and located on continents and regions. There were almost no maps in the atlas created by Ortelius himself, but he admired the maps of other masters, on each of them a source was indicated.

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was so successful that it had to be reprinted 4 times in the first year of publication. In the period from 1570 to 1612, the atlas survived 42 reprints in 7 languages, including Latin, English, German, Flemish, French, Spanish, and Italian.

Ortelia World Map

Although the Atlas did not contain many maps of Ortelius, it represented the most famous – Typus Orbis Terrarum (1570). Perhaps one of the most iconic maps ever created, it covers the whole world from pole to pole, revealing the shape and size of continents based on the knowledge of the time.

Ortelius designed the map in accordance with previous maps of the world from other cartographers, but he also added new information based on his own guesses and estimates. At the time of the map, most of North America had not yet been explored. There is no Mississippi River and Great Lakes on it.

Many objects on the map were based on new information from researchers. For example, the shores of Southeast Asia and the Indian archipelago appeared as a result of Portuguese travels, and knowledge of the Asian world was based on travel reports from Marco Polo from the 13th century.

A map of Ortelia was created before the official discovery of Australia, but it has an image of the earth named Terra Australis Nondum Cognita (Unknown Southern Land). This suggests that researchers already assumed its existence, but have not yet fully proved it. The map also illustrates Papua New Guinea, almost annexed to the southern lands, with a Latin text explaining: “New Guinea, recently discovered. It is not known whether it is an island or part of the Southern continent. ”

Mythical Sea Monsters

Perhaps this tradition was influenced by Greco-Roman images of mythological animals. However, Ortelius was one of the last cartographers who agreed to include them in his cards. The Atlas of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was published at a time when cartographers began to prefer science and accuracy instead of aesthetics.