BREVARD HISTORY: Section of Abraham Ortelius’ ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum’ Shows Cape Canaveral in First True Modern Atlas

By  //  June 4, 2023

'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' is considered to be the first true modern atlas

A section of a map from the 1584 edition of author Abraham Ortelius’ “Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theater of the World), Additamentum III” shows the name “C. de Cañareal” at the location of Cape Canaveral, Fla. (Wikipedia image)

BREVARD COUNTY • PORT CANAVERAL FLORIDA – A section of a map from the 1584 edition of author Abraham Ortelius’ “Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theater of the World), Additamentum III” shows the name “C. de Cañareal” at the location of Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Ortelius, who was born in 1527, was a Brabantian cartographer and geographer conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World).

The publication of his atlas in 1570 is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography.

He is also believed to be the first person to imagine that the continents were joined together before drifting to their present positions.

When first published in 1570, the book, consisting of a bound collection of uniform map sheets and accompanying text, is considered to be the first true modern atlas.

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Written by Ortelius, strongly encouraged by Gillis Hooftman and originally printed on May 20, 1570, in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of uniform map sheets and sustaining text bound to form a book for which copper printing plates were specifically engraved.

The Ortelius atlas is sometimes referred to as the summary of sixteenth-century cartography.

– Wikipedia contributed to this report

Abraham Ortelius, who was born in 1527, was a Brabantian cartographer and geographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. (Peter Paul Rubens)

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