![]() His early career was as a business man, and most of his journeys before 1560, were for commercial purposes. In 1547 he entered the Antwerp guild of St Luke as afsetter van Karten. Ortelius started his career as a map colorist. The three parts comprise: Theatrum, engraved title within architectural border, engraved portrait of Ortelius, 115 double-page mapsheets Parergon, printed title within woodblock architectural border, 32 mapsheets Nomenclator Ptolemaicus, printed title and woodcut device, dated 1595. Abraham Ortelius is perhaps the best known and most frequently collected of all sixteenth-century mapmakers. The appended "Catalogus auctorum" is a unique source of names of contemporary cartographers, some of whom would otherwise have remained obscure. Before Ortelius no one had done this" (Koeman). This concept for a 'Theatre of the world' was followed through the 17th century. The characteristic feature of the Theatrum is, that it consists of two elements, forming part of a unitary whole: text and maps. "Shape and contents set the standards for later atlases, when the centre of the map-trade moved from Antwerp to Amsterdam. The Theatrum is widely recognised as the first modern atlas, which came to shape the future of cartography. Antwerp: Plantin, 1595ģ parts in one volume, folio (452 x 305mm.), engraved title, two sectional titles, engraved portrait, 147 double-page engraved maps, all finely coloured by a contemporary hand, bound to style by James and Stuart Brockman in morocco-backed oak boards, previous extensive waterstains to foot of text block expertly restored with very occasional slight lossĪ FINELY COLOURED COPY, by one of the most influential cartographers of the 16th century.
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