Bononiense Territorium

Map taken from the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, which is considered the first true modern "Atlas". The work was published in 7 languages and 36 editions, for which - in 1570 - Ortelius obtained the privilege, a kind of copyright that prevented other cartographers from publishing his works. The Theatrum represented the most advanced work of cartographic description. Ortelius collected in it the geographical and cartographic knowledge of his time, proposing in 147 spectacular engraved plates the most faithful image of the world then known and, in some extraordinary "historical maps", regions and routes taken from literature, mythology, tradition. Ortelius was also the first to cite sources, mentioning the names of cartographers in the "catalogus auctorum". From 1598 to 1612 the posthumous editions of the Theatrum were made by his collaborator Johannes Baptiste Vrients.