MERCATOR, ORTELIUS, AND THEIR SUCCESSORS 121 



Ortelius may have begun work on his collection of maps 

 as early as 1561 ; he had at least issued some separately before 

 1570. These included a map of the world in 1563 and a map of 

 Asia, largely based on the work of the Italian cartographer, 

 Jacopo Gastaldi. There is a tradition that Mercator delayed 

 the publication of his Atlas so that his friend Ortelius might 

 have the honour of publishing the first uniform collection of 

 maps, but this is probably apocryphal, since Mercator was 

 another fifteen years in completing the first section of his Atlas. 



The distinguishing features of the 'Theatrum' were 

 critical selection from the best maps available, to give a com- 

 prehensive cover of the world; uniform size and style of the 

 maps, specially designed for this publication ; the citing of the 

 authorities employed for each map; and the subsequent issue 

 of the 'Additamenta' to supplement and bring the collection 

 up to date. Ortelius' list of authorities, which contains the 

 names of eighty-seven cartographers (ninety-one in the second 

 edition), is an invaluable source for the history of cartography, 

 and has formed the basis of an admirable monograph by 

 Leo Bagrow. 



The 'Theatrum', in its first form, contained seventy maps 

 on fifty-three sheets, many engraved by Francis Hogenberg. 

 The contents were: a map of the world, four maps of the 

 continents, fifty-six maps of Europe (countries, regions, and 

 islands), six of Asia, and three of Africa. 



The 'Theatrum' was an immediate success, since it met, 

 in a convenient form, the contemporary interest not only in 

 the lands overseas but also in the topography, administrative 

 limits, and antiquities of the nation states of Europe. A second 

 edition appeared in the same year as the first, and in all forty- 

 one editions were published, the last in 1612. In addition to the 

 twenty-one Latin editions, there were two Dutch editions, 

 five German, six French, four Spanish, two Italian, and one 

 English (1606). At the death of Ortelius in 1598, the 'Addita- 

 menta' had added about one hundred maps, some with insets, 

 and a number of the plates had been re-engraved or altered. 

 Besides this, editions from 1579 onwards contained the 

 Tarergon', a series of historical maps which eventually consti- 

 tuted a historical atlas, the work of Ortelius himself. 



