In 1575 he was appointed geographer to the king of Spain, Philip II, on the recommendation of Arias Montanus, who vouched for his orthodoxy (his family, as early as 1535, had fallen under suspicion of Protestantism). In 1573, Ortelius published seventeen supplementary maps under the title of Additamentum Theatri Orbis Terrarum. Most of the maps in Ortelius' Theatrum were drawn from the works of a number of other mapmakers from around the world a list of 87 authors is given by Ortelius himself

Later editions would also be issued in Spanish and English by Ortelius’ successors, Vrients and Plantin, the former adding a number of maps to the atlas, the final edition of which was issued in 1612. By the time of his death in 1598, a total of 25 editions were published including editions in Latin, Italian, German, French, and Dutch. On May 20, 1570, Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum first appeared in an edition of 70 maps. Ortelius also published a map of Egypt in 1565, a plan of Brittenburg Castle on the coast of the Netherlands, and a map of Asia, prior to 1570. The only extant copy of this great map is in the library of the University of Basel. In 1564 he completed his “ mappemonde', an eight-sheet map of the world. From that point forward, he devoted himself to the compilation of his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World), which would become the first modern atlas. In 1560, while traveling with Gerard Mercator to Trier, Lorraine, and Poitiers, he seems to have been attracted, largely by Mercator’s influence, towards a career as a scientific geographer. His early career was as a business man, and most of his journeys before 1560, were for commercial purposes.

In 1547 he entered the Antwerp guild of St Luke as afsetter van Karten. Ortelius started his career as a map colorist. African Islands, including Madagascar (65)Ībraham Ortelius is perhaps the best known and most frequently collected of all sixteenth-century mapmakers.The engraving is now on show for everyone to enjoy at the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp. He quickly became one of the most frequently seen visitors to the Plantin-Moretus printing house, which printed most of his atlases. It was to become the starting point for the development of Modernism.Īfter beginning his career as a colourist, Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598) became a map maker and then humanist. In 1516, the book’s appearance challenged the way of thinking about the ideal society and it became the most influential book ever to be written in the former Netherlands. In this biting satire on England and the Europe of his time, the famous humanist described the ideal and imaginary island of Utopia, a place governed entirely by reason. Ortelius took his inspiration from the famous work Utopia or the Treaty on the Best Form of Government, written in large part in 1515 (in Latin) by the English lawyer and statesman Thomas More (1477–1535), during his stay in Antwerp as part of a diplomatic mission.

The map is unparalleled, hence its iconic status. This Fund has as its objective to enrich the collections of Belgian museums with masterpieces of our national heritage. The King Baudouin Foundation was able to buy the map, engraved on copper, thanks to the Charles Vreeken Fund. It is this work that has been acquired by the King Bedouin Foundation and returned to its original home. Printed in just twelve examples in Antwerp, today only one copy remains. Around 1595–1596, the famous Antwerp cartographer Abraham Ortelius imagined a map of the imaginary island that Thomas More had described in this work Utopia.

Abraham ortelius map