Abraham Ortelius is the man credited with producing the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World) in 1570. He was a Flemish cartographer, trained engraver and geographer. He was influenced by his friend, Gerardus Mercator, whom he met at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1554 and became interested in map making which later became the main thing among other things for which the world will remember him.
Who was Abraham Ortelius? – Biography
Ortelius belonged to an influential Catholic in Augsburg, believed to have joined the Protestant movement at the time. His father had three children, of whom he died in 1535, so Abraham and his siblings were raised by his uncle Jacob van Meteren (who was previously in exile). As a result, he also became very close to his cousin, Emanuel van Meteren, who was a historian and Flemish consul. Ortelius opened a shop where he sold books and antique shops run by him and his sister.
Education
Abraham Ortelius was born in Antwerp which was then part of the Habsburg Netherlands but now Belgium on April 14, 1527. He did not acquire much in terms of formal education, probably as a result of his death of his father when he was still very young. He studied mathematics, Latin and Greek in his youth and was apprenticed as a map engraver, which earned him entry into the Guild of Map Illuminators of Antwerp in 1557.
He is often considered one of the founders of the Dutch School of Cartography and one of the school’s most notable figures in its golden age (1570-1670).
Carrier start
Ortelius started his career as a map engraver, probably without even noticing it. Trained as an engraver since 1554, he created his business where he took care of books and antiques. In 1559-1560, he accompanied his friend Mercator on his cartographic expedition through Trier, Lorraine and Poitiers. It was during this trip that Mercator convinced his friend not only to engrave and color other people’s maps, but also to become a full-fledged cartographer. Hence his interest in creating maps.
He traveled across Europe selling books, prints, and maps. This inspired the start of his work as a map compiler and editor. His cartographic activity can be seen as the reason for his unusually extended travels in Germany, England, Italy, and in particular his annual visits to the great fair in Leipzig.
Works
Besides his work on the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, he compiled maps of the world (1564) on a heart-shaped projection, of Egypt (1565) and of Asia (1567). He published the Thesaurus Geographicus in 1587, which embodies considerable value as a dictionary of old geography. Even more important than the dictionary is the accompanying catalog of maps (Catalogus auctorum tabularum Geographicarum), which contains the names and works of ninety-nine cartographers who lived before 1570.
Ortelius published in 1575 his Itinerarium per nonnullas Galliæ Belgicæ partes, which contains much important information about the geography of Belgium. One of the fruits of his persistent effort as a collector of archaeological specimens or objects was his pamphlet: Deorum, Dearumque Capita ex veteribus numismatibus (1575), which contained reproductions of his much admired archaeological collection.
Abraham Ortelius is credited with being the first to observe the geometric similarity between the coasts of the Americas and Europe-Africa, proposing the theory of continental drift as the reason. Among his many other works are his contributions to cartography and geography.
Dead
Ortelius, after his many achievements and contributions to humanity, died June 28, 1598 in Antwerp. You could say he was so wrapped up in his works that he had no room to think about marriage and children. Therefore, he did not marry and had no children. He spent most of his life in his hometown of Antwerp where his mother and sister, Anne, lived as if they were his only family.
He was buried in St. Michael’s Abbey in Antwerp and was greatly mourned by everyone. Her tombstone reads: “Quietis cultor sine lite, uxore, prole” which translates to “served quietly, without accusation, wife and offspring”.
Abraham Ortelius will always be remembered as the creator of the first modern atlas and for proposing the idea that the continents were all together before moving away to their different locations (Continental Drift).