Abraham Ortelius Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
Please explain Theatrum Orbis Terrarum?
Please explain Theatrum Orbis Terrarum?
On 20 May 1570, Gilles Coppens de Diest at Antwerp issued Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the "first modern atlas" (of 53 maps). Three Latin editions of this (besides a Dutch, a French and a German edition) appeared before the end of 1572; twenty-five editions came out before Ortelius' death in 1598; and several others were published subsequently, for the atlas continued to be in demand until about 1612. Most of the maps were admittedly reproductions (a list of 87 authors is given in the first Theatrum by Ortelius himself, growing to 183 names in the 1601 Latin edition), and many discrepancies of delineation or nomenclature occur. Errors, of course, abound, both in general conceptions and in detail; thus South America is initially very faulty in outline, but corrected in the 1587 French edition, and in Scotland the Grampians lie between the Forth and the Clyde; but, taken as a whole, this atlas with its accompanying text was a monument of rare erudition and industry. Its immediate precursor and prototype was a collection of thirty-eight maps of European lands, and of Asia, Africa, Tartary and Egypt, gathered together by the wealth and enterprise, and through the agents, of Ortelius' friend and patron, Gillis Hooftman (1521-1581), lord of Cleydael and Aertselaer: most of these were printed in Rome, eight or nine only in the Southern Netherlands.  In 1573 Ortelius published seventeen supplementary maps under the title Additamentum Theatri Orbis Terrarum. Four more Additamenta were to follow, the last one appearing in 1597. He also had a keen interest and formed a fine collection of coins, medals and antiques, and this resulted in the book (also in 1573, published by Philippe Galle of Antwerp) Deorum dearumque capita ... ex Museo Ortelii (reprinted in 1582, 1602, 1612, 1680, 1683 and finally in 1699 by Gronovius, Thesaurus Graecarum Antiquitatum. vol. vii).  The Theatrum Orbis Terrarum inspired a six volume work entitled Civitates orbis terrarum edited by Georg Braun and illustrated by Frans Hogenberg with the assistance of Ortelius himself, who visited England to see his friend John Dee in Mortlake in 1577 and Braun tells of Ortelius putting pebbles in cracks in Temple Church, Bristol, being crushed by the vibration of the bells in the description on the back of 'Brightovve' Map 2, Third Edition 1581 CANNOTANSWER
Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the "first modern atlas" (of 53 maps).
Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World). Along with Gemma Frisius and Gerardus Mercator, Ortelius is generally considered one of the founders of the Netherlandish school of cartography and geography. He was a notable figure of this school in its golden age (approximately 1570s–1670s) and an important geographer of Spain during the age of discovery. The publication of his atlas in 1570 is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography. He was the first person proposing that the continents were joined before drifting to their present positions.

Life
Ortelius was born on either 4 April or 14 April 1527 in the city of Antwerp, which was then in the Habsburg Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). The Orthellius family were originally from Augsburg, a Free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1535, the family had fallen under suspicion of Protestantism. Following the death of Ortelius's father, his uncle Jacobus van Meteren returned from religious exile in England to take care of Ortelius. Abraham remained close to his cousin Emanuel van Meteren, who would later move to London. In 1575 he was appointed geographer to the king of Spain, Philip II, on the recommendation of Arias Montanus, who vouched for his orthodoxy.

He travelled extensively in Europe and is specifically known to have traveled throughout the Seventeen Provinces; in southern, western, northern, and eastern Germany (e.g., 1560, 1575–1576); France (1559–1560); England and Ireland (1576); and Italy (1578, and perhaps two or three times between 1550 and 1558).

Beginning as a map-engraver, in 1547 he entered the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as an illuminator of maps. He supplemented his income trading in books, prints, and maps, and his journeys included yearly visits to the Frankfurt book and print fair, where he met Gerardus Mercator in 1554. In 1560, however, when travelling with Mercator to Trier, Lorraine, and Poitiers, he seems to have been attracted, largely by Mercator's influence, towards the career of a scientific geographer.

He died in Antwerp.

Map publisher
 
In 1564 he published his first map, Typus Orbis Terrarum, an eight-leaved wall map of the world, on which he identified the Regio Patalis with Locach as a northward extension of the Terra Australis, reaching as far as New Guinea. This map subsequently appeared in reduced form in the Terrarum (the only extant copy is in now at Basel University Library). He also published a two-sheet map of Egypt in 1565, a plan of the Brittenburg castle on the coast of the Netherlands in 1568, an eight-sheet map of Asia in 1567, and a six-sheet map of Spain before the appearance of his atlas.

In England Ortelius's contacts included William Camden, Richard Hakluyt, Thomas Penny, Puritan controversialist William Charke, and Humphrey Llwyd, who would contribute the map of England and Wales to Ortelius's 1573 edition of the Theatrum.

In 1578 he laid the basis of a critical treatment of ancient geography by his Synonymia geographica (issued by the Plantin press at Antwerp and republished in expanded form as Thesaurus geographicus in 1587 and again expanded in 1596. In this last edition, Ortelius considers the possibility of continental drift, a hypothesis proved correct only centuries later).

In 1596 he received a presentation from Antwerp city, similar to that afterwards bestowed on Rubens. His death on 28 June 1598 and his burial in the church of St. Michael's Abbey, Antwerp, were marked by public mourning. The inscription on his tombstone reads: Quietis cultor sine lite, uxore, prole ("served quietly, without accusation, wife, and offspring").

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum

On 20 May 1570, Gilles Coppens de Diest at Antwerp issued Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the "first modern atlas" (of 53 maps). Three Latin editions of this (besides a Dutch, a French, and a German edition) appeared before the end of 1572; twenty-five editions came out before Ortelius's death in 1598; and several others were published subsequently, for the atlas continued to be in demand until about 1612. Most of the maps were admittedly reproductions (a list of 87 authors is given in the first Theatrum by Ortelius himself, growing to 183 names in the 1601 Latin edition), and many discrepancies of delineation or nomenclature occur. Errors, of course, abound, both in general conceptions and in detail; thus South America is initially very faulty in outline, but corrected in the 1587 French edition, and in Scotland, the Grampians lie between the Forth and the Clyde; but, taken as a whole, this atlas with its accompanying text was a monument of rare erudition and industry. Its immediate precursor and prototype was a collection of thirty-eight maps of European lands, and of Asia, Africa, Tartary, and Egypt, gathered together by the wealth and enterprise, and through the agents, of Ortelius's friend and patron, Gillis Hooftman (1521–1581), lord of Cleydael and Aertselaar: most of these were printed in Rome, eight or nine only in the Southern Netherlands.

In 1573, Ortelius published seventeen supplementary maps under the title Additamentum Theatri Orbis Terrarum. Four more Additamenta were to follow, the last one appearing in 1597. He also had a keen interest and formed a fine collection of coins, medals and antiques, and this resulted in the book (also in 1573, published by Philippe Galle of Antwerp) Deorum dearumque capita ... ex Museo Ortelii ("Heads of the gods and goddesses... from the Ortelius Museum"); reprinted in 1582, 1602, 1612, 1680, 1683 and finally in 1699 by Gronovius, Thesaurus Graecarum Antiquitatum ("Treasury of Greek Antiquities", vol. vii).

The Theatrum Orbis Terrarum inspired a six-volume work titled Civitates orbis terrarum, edited by Georg Braun and illustrated by Frans Hogenberg with the assistance of Ortelius himself, who visited England to see his friend John Dee in Mortlake in 1577, and Braun tells of Ortelius putting pebbles in cracks in Temple Church, Bristol, being crushed by the vibration of the bells.

Later maps

In 1579 Ortelius brought out his Nomenclator Ptolemaicus and started his Parergon (a series of maps illustrating ancient history, sacred and secular). He also published Itinerarium per nonnullas Galliae Belgicae partes (at the Plantin press in 1584, and reprinted in 1630, 1661 in Hegenitius, Itin. Frisio-Hoil., in 1667 by Verbiest, and finally in 1757 in Leuven), a record of a journey in Belgium and the Rhineland made in 1575. In 1589 he published Maris Pacifici, the first dedicated map of the Pacific to be printed. Among his last works were an edition of Caesar (C. I. Caesaris omnia quae extant, Leiden, Raphelingen, 1593), and the Aurei saeculi imago, sive Germanorum veterum vita, mores, ritus et religio. (Philippe Galle, Antwerp, 1596). He also aided Welser in his edition of the Peutinger Table in 1598.

Contrary to popular belief, Abraham Ortelius, who had no children, never lived at the Mercator-Orteliushuis (Kloosterstraat 11–17, Antwerpen), but lived at his sister's house (Kloosterstraat 33–35, Antwerpen).

Modern use of maps
Originals of Ortelius's maps are popular collectors' items and often sell for tens of thousands of dollars. Facsimiles of his maps are also available from many retailers. A map he made of North and South America is also included in the world's largest commercially available jigsaw puzzle, which is of four world maps. This puzzle is made by Ravensburger, measures  × , and has over 18,000 pieces.

Imagining continental drift
Ortelius was the first to underline the geometrical similarity between the coasts of America and Europe-Africa and to propose continental drift as an explanation. Kious described Ortelius's thoughts in this way:

Ortelius's observations of continental juxtaposition and his proposal of rupture and separation went unnoticed until the late 20th century. However, they were repeated in 18th and 19th century and later by Alfred Wegener, who published his hypothesis of continental drift in 1912 and in following years. Because his publications were widely available in German and English and because he adduced geological support for the idea, Wegener is credited by most geologists as the first to recognize the possibility of continental drift. Frank Bursley Taylor (in 1908) was also an early advocate of continental drift.  During the 1960s geophysical and geological evidence for seafloor spreading at mid-oceanic ridges became increasingly compelling to geologists (e.g. Hess, 1960) and finally established continental drift as an ongoing global mechanism. After more than three centuries, Ortelius's supposition of continental drift was proven correct.

Bibliography

 
 
 Abraham Ortelius, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Gedruckt zu Nuermberg durch Johann Koler Anno MDLXXII. Mit einer Einführung und Erläuterungen von Ute Schneider. Second unchanged edition (2. unveränd. Aufl). Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2007.

Notes

References

Sources
 
 
 
 
  (an edition of Ortelius's letters)
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (Translated from the fourth revised German edition.)

Further reading

See also
 Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World)
 History of cartography
 Early modern Netherlandish cartography
 Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography

External links 

 

16th-century Flemish cartographers
1527 births
1598 deaths
Early modern Netherlandish cartography
Belgian cartographers
Belgian geographers
Scientists from Antwerp
People from the Duchy of Brabant
Flemish geographers
Marcel Peter René van den Broecke (Amsterdam, 25 May 1942 - Bilthoven, 8 March 2020) was a Dutch specialist in phonetics and also in cartography, more in particular the  historical maps by Abraham Ortelius.

Biography
Van den Broecke studied at the Barlaeus Gymnasium, followed by studies in chemistry at the Brandeis-university, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. He continued with studies in English, Language science and phonetics at the University of Amsterdam.

In 1986 he graduated as PhD at Utrecht University with his study Hierarchies and rank orders in Distinctive Features (van Gorcum, Assen).

In 1982-1983 he studied historical cartography at Utrecht University.

In 2009 he graduated as PhD in urbanistic sciences at  Utrecht University, with his dissertation Ortelius, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570-1641). Characteristics and development of a sample of on verso map texts (NGS 380, Utrecht, 304 pp. + cd-rom).

He was married to Dr. Deborah Günzburger and he had four sons.

Professional activities
At Utrecht University he was assistant professor in English and Phonetics.

He was also:
 secretary-general of the 10th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Utrecht, 1983. 
 editor of Sound Structures, studies presented to Antonie Cohen, Foris, 1983, in which he described his reconstruction of the speech machine of Wolfgang von Kempelen (1790). 
 editor of the Progress Report of the Institute of Phonetics Utrecht (PRIPU)(1977-1988), and of the Journal of Phonetics, Academic Press, London (1985-1990).

His other academic activities included:
 directorship of the Foundation for public information on science and technology (PWT) (1988-1995);
 directorship of Humanistisch Verbond Nederland (1995-1997);
 directorship of the International Statistical Institute, The Hague (1997-2003).

Ortelius

From 1980 on, Marcel van den Broecke concentrated on studying old maps, and more in particular the life and works of the Antwerp cartographer Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598).

In 1996 he published Ortelius Atlas Maps, with in 2011 a new edition, rewritten and augmented.

In 1998, together with Peter van der Krogt and Peter Meurer he published Abraham Ortelius and the first atlas. Essays commemorating the Quadricentennial of his Death.

Ortelius was a  friend and admirer of the Flemish cartographer Gerard Mercator.

Publications

Phonetics
 Ter Sprake. Spraak als betekenisvol geluid in 36 thematische hoofdstukken (red.), Foris Publications, Dordrecht, 1988.

Ortelius

 How rare is a map and the atlas it comes from? Facts and speculations on production and survival of Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum and its maps, in: The Map Collector, 1986.
 Varieties binnen edities van oude atlassen, geïllustreerd aan Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, in: Caert Thresoor, 1994.
 Unstable editions of Ortelius’ atlas, in: The Map Collector, 1995.
 Ortelius zag de continenten al drijven, in: Caert-Thresoor, 1995.
 Ortelius Atlas Maps: an illustrated guide, HES Publishers, 1996.
 Platen en staten in Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, in: Capita Selecta uit de geschiedenis van de cartografie, ed. P. van der Krogt. NVK publikatiereeks nr. 18, Amersfoort, Nederlandse Vereniging voor Kartografie.
 Abraham Ortelius Mercators World, 1997.
 Introduction to the Life and Works of Abraham Ortelius, in: Abraham Ortelius and the First Atlas, HES Publishers, 1998.
 The Plates of Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, in: Abraham Ortelius and the First Atlas, HES Publishers, 1998.
 Unmasking a Forgery, Mercators World, 1998.
 Abraham Ortelius, grondlegger van de moderne kartografie, in: Kartografisch Tijdschrift, 1998.
  Ortelius as a Scientist, Collector and Merchant, in: Journal of the International Map Collector’s Society (Imcos) 1998. 
  Historical Maps in the First Modern Atlas by Abraham Ortelius – Their Justification and Purpose, exemplified by their texts, Brussels International Map Collector Society (BIMCS), February 2002.
  Historische kaarten en hun teksten in de eerste moderne atlas van Abraham Ortelius, in: Caert-Thresoor, 2002, with an English summary.
 Correcties op het boek Ortelius Atlas Maps, in: Caert-Thresoor, 2003.
 De eerste staat van Vrients/Philip Galle's Inferioris Germaniae kaart gevonden, in: Caert-Thresoor, 2004.
 De Utopia kaart van Ortelius, in: Caert-Thresoor, 2004.
 Has the fourth Ortelius Americas plate ever been used?, in: Mapforum, 2005.
 Oceanography in Ortelius's atlas text, in: International Journal on the history of Oceanography, 2005.
 Unmasking another Ortelius atlas map forgery: Iceland, in: IMCOS Journal, 2006.
 Ortelius’ Zeeland kaart revisited, in: Caert-Thresoor, 2007.
 The significance of language: The Texts on the Verso of the Maps in Abraham Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Imago Mundi Vol. 60 Part 2, 2008. 
 Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570-1641) Characteristics and development of a sample of on verso texts, in Netherlands Geographical Studies 380, ISSN 0169-4839,  KNAG The Hague.
 Ortelius’ Epitomes?, in: Caert-Thresoor, 2011.
 Ortelius Atlas Maps, An illustrated guide, Second revised edition, HES Publishers, 2011.
 Ortelius’ Brittenburg,in: Caert-Thresoor, 2011.
 Ortelius’ Engravers and Engravings. How many engravers did Ortelius employ for his maps, and how can they be identified?, in: Imcos Journal 134, Autumn 2013.
 Ortelius’ Library Reconstructed, in: Imago Mundi, 2014. 
 Ortelius’ Merchandise: His Atlases, Then and Now, in: The Portolan, 2014. 
 Mercator and Ortelius, two of a kind?, in: A world of innovation, Cartography in the Time of Gerhard Mercator, edited by Gerhard Holzer, Valery Newby, Petra Svatek and Georg Zotti, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015. 
 Abraham Ortelius, 1527–1598. His life, works, sources and friends, 2015.

Collaborations:
 (with Deborah Günzburger), The Wanderings of patriarch Abraham, in: Abraham Ortelius and the First Atlas, Marcel van den Broecke, Peter van der Krogt & Peter H. Meurer, eds.,  HES Publishers, 1998.
 (with Peter van der Krogt & Peter H. Meurer, eds.) Abraham Ortelius and the First Atlas, HES Publishers, 1998.
 (with Ferjan Ormeling), What's in a Name (topographical names on Ortelius’ Utopia map), in: The Map Book, Peter Barber (ed.) Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, UK, 2005.

Literature
 Obituary – Marcel P. R. van den Broecke (25 May 1942 – 8 March 2020), in: Journal of Phonetics, July 2020.
 Bookreviews about Abraham Ortelius and the First Atlas (1998) 
 John BARRET, in: Newsletter Brussels International Map Collectors Circle, 1999
 Hans-Uli FELDMAN, in: Cartographica Helvetica, 1999
 Jason Harris, in: Imago Mundi, 2000
 Bookreviews about Ortelius Atlas Maps, an illustrated guide (2011)
 Wulf BODENSTEIN, in: Brussels International Map Collectors Circle, 2012.
 Fredric SHANGER, in: The Portolan, 2012.
 Lisette DANCKAERT, in: Caert-Tresoor, 2012.
 Hans-Uli FELDMANN, in: Cartografica Helvetica, 2012.
 Peter BARBER, in: The Book Collector, 2012.
 Alfred Hiatt, in: IMCoS Journal, 2012.

External links
 Website Marcel van den Broecke, Cartographica Neerlandica.

Dutch cartographers
20th-century Dutch scientists
1942 births
2020 deaths Georg Braun (also Brunus, Bruin; 1541 – 10 March 1622) was a German topo-geographer. From 1572 to 1617, he edited the Civitates orbis terrarum, which contains 546 prospects, bird's-eye views and maps of cities from all around the world. He was the principal editor of the work, he acquired the tables, hired the artists, and wrote the texts. He died as an octogenarian in 1622, as the only survivor of the original team to witness the publication of volume VI in 1617.

Biography

Braun was born and died in Cologne. His principal profession was as a Catholic cleric. He spent thirty-seven years as canon and dean at the church, St. Maria ad Gradus, in Cologne. His six-volume work was inspired by Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia. In form and layout it resembles the 1570 Theatrum orbis terrarum by Abraham Ortelius, as Ortelius was interested in a complementary companion for the Theatrum.

The Braun publication set new standards in cartography for over 100 years. Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590, from Mechelen) created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were Joris Hoefnagel, Jacob Hoefnagel, cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Primarily European cities are depicted in the publication; however, Cairo Casablanca  and Mexico City as well as Cuzco on one sheet are also included in volume I, whereas Tunis is featured in volume II.

Sources
 James Elliot (1987), The City in Maps: Urban Mapping to 1900, British Library London, 
 Ronald Vere Tooley (1979), Tooley's Dictionary of Mapmakers, 
 Leo Bagrow, Abraham Ortelius: A. Ortelii Catalogus Cartographorum, J. Perthes (1928)

Gallery

References

External links

 
 
 Wolfgang Bruhn: Alte deutsche Städtebilder : 24 farb. Blätter / Georg Braun; Franz Hogenberg, J. Asmus, Leipzig (1938)
 Georg Braun, Franz Hogenberg: Old European Cities: 16th century city maps and texts, with a description by Ruthardt Oehme of early map-making techniques, London (1965)
 Civitates orbis terrarum (description and high-res scans)
 Civitates orbis terrarum - Braun and Hogenberg
 Braun Hogenberg Map Collection at University of South Carolina
 Georg Braun maps depicting Europe and Mexico at the John Carter Brown Library

1541 births
1622 deaths
Scientists from Cologne
German Roman Catholics
German geographers
Roman Catholic deans
16th-century cartographers
17th-century cartographers
German cartographers
16th-century Roman Catholic priests
17th-century Roman Catholic priests
16th-century German writers
16th-century German male writers
Clergy from Cologne