The 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' contains 151 map sheets that are each hand-coloured with numerous embellished woodcut initials. All the maps were drawn in manuscript by Ortelius and engraved by Franz Hogenberg. The maps are decorated with beautiful Renaissance-style cartouches and adorned with ships, sea or mythological monsters, coats of arms, masks, medallions, birds, various characters and other beautiful motifs. 

The atlas opens with an elaborate engraved architectural title showing five allegorical female figures of the continents with Europe at the top, Asia and Africa on the sides, America, and the bust of Magellanica representing the then unexplored southern continent ‘Terra Incognita’. Following this, a laudatory poem by Ortelius dedicated to Philip II of Spain.

The Sunderland Collection

Abraham Ortelius's masterwork, the 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum', was one of the most influential publications produced in the Renaissance. As the first true atlas of its kind, the work had no precedent. Its comprehensive coverage of the world, the uniform excellence of its maps, the standardised style and format, the extensive use of the vernacular for marketing, its scholarly citations, and its massive classical appendix made it an immediate best seller with numerous editions reissued in the following decades.

This 1603 Latin edition was published by Jean Baptista Vrints is one of the most complete issues of the atlas, including both the supplemental 'Parergon' and 'Nomenclator'. Collectively, these materials played a pivotal role in bridging classical conceptions of the world with the new revelations from European exploration. The importance that Ortelius felt for this task reverberates in the quote from Cicero at the bottom of the atlas’s grand world map, which may be loosely translated: 'How can human affairs be taken seriously by one who contemplates the great world and all eternity?'

The 'Theatrum’ of Ortelius introduced an entirely new method for the study of geography. Previously, groupings of maps were only created for individual bespoke orders. In the Ortelius atlas, however, the maps were standardised, all presented similar in style and size arranged logically by continent, region, and state.

Ortelius is generally considered one of the leading figures at a time when Netherlandish cartography held a monopoly on the market (approximately 1570s–1670s) and an important geographer of Spain during the age of European exploration. His atlas was published in Latin, the traditional language of the scholarly elite, as well as in the six major European vernaculars: German, Dutch, French, Italian, English, and Spanish. The ‘Theatrum’ was therefore equally at home in the library of a scholar in Paris, a country gentleman in Kent, or a merchant in Grenada. This widespread dissemination had profound results in an age when geographical knowledge was in a rudimentary state; the information laid out in the ‘Theatrum’ became the universally accepted vision of the world.

Another strategy used to make the atlas more accessible to the public was the inclusion of beautiful embellishments in the popular mannerist style, appealing to contemporary aesthetic tastes and aligning the ‘Theatrum’ with the other great artistic accomplishments of the age.

The ‘Theatrum’ was also the first major printed work of any kind to include scholarly citations of authorities (i.e. the original mapmakers), introducing for the first time the concept of footnoting to Western scholarship. In addition to this, Ortelius included a massive appendix (the ‘Parergon’), consisting of a detailed historical atlas, to appeal to Renaissance Europe's fascination with the ancient world.

World map on an oval projection

Frontispiece

Dedication page

Second dedication page

Portrait of Ortelius

Map of Europe

Map of Asia

Map of Africa

Map of America

Map of the Pacific 

Map of Spain

Map of the islands around Spain

Map of the Peruvian Gold Region

Map of Great Britain

Map of Scotland 

Map of England

Map of Wales

Map of Ireland 

Azores Islands

Map of Portugal 

Map of Andalusia, Spain

Map of Valencia, Spain

Map of the Atlantic Ocean on a disk 

Map of Gaul, France

Map of Gaul and the British Isles attached to Europe

Neighbouring European regions of the Picts Pictonum

Region of the Biturigi tribe, Europe, Biturigum-Limaniae

Anjou, France

Isle de France, France

Touraine, France

Blois and surroundings, Limoges and surroundings- France

Vermadois France

Picardy, France

Provence, France

Narbonne, France, Savoie, France Provence-Alpes-Azur, France

Lorraine, France

Burgundy, France

Lower Burgundy 

Germany

Lower Germany 

Luxembourg

Gelderland, Netherlands

Diocese of Liège, Belgium

Brabant Province, Belgium

Namurcum, Belgium

Namur, Hainaut, Belgium

Artesia, Belgium

Flanders, Belgium

Zealand 

Holland

Fresia

Fresia West

Fresia East

Kingdom of Denmark 

Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Holstein and Oldenburg, Germany

Westphalia, Germany

Saxony, Germany

Mansfeld, Germany

Henneberg, Germany + Hesse, Germany

Thuringia, Germany, Meissen Germany

Brandenburg, Germany

Fulda, Waldeck, Germany 

Braunschweig, Nuremburg, Germany

Franconia, Münsterland, Germany

Bohemia 

Silesia 

Moravia

Austria

Salzburg, Austria

Bavaria 

Bavaria- the Rhine North and South of Strasbourg

Württemberg, Germany

Basel, Switzerland and Schwaben

Switzerland

Raetia, modern Switzerland, Goritiae

Italy

Cividale del Friuli, Italy 

Verona, Italy

Milan, Italy

Cremona, Italy 

Province of Brescia

Piedmont, Italy 

Padua, Italy, Tarvisio, Italy

Udine, Rome, Lake Como

Tuscany, Italy 

Florence, Italy

Perugia and Lake Trasimeno in Umbria

Siena, Corsica, Ancona, Italy 

Abruzzi, mid East Italian mountain range

Basilicata region, Italy 

Apulia, Italy, Calabria, Italy 

Sicily, Malta, Sardinia, Corfu, Elba and Zerbia

Ischia, Italy 

Heraklion, Crete, Archipelago Islands

Cyprus

Greek Islands

Illyricum, Roman Province

Croatia 

A superb example of Ortelius's Renaissance masterwork: the first true atlas, in full contemporary hand colouring. The 1603 Latin edition published by Jean Baptista Vrints is one of the most complete issues of the 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' and includes both the 'Parergon' and 'Nomenclator'.

Theatre of the World

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum

Ortelius's 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum'