An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Abraham Ortelius was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Along with Gemma Frisius and Gerardus Mercator, Ortelius is generally considered one of the founders of the Netherlandish school of cartography and geography. He was a notable figure of this school in its golden age and an important geographer of Spain during the age of discovery. The publication of his atlas in 1570 is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography. He was the first person proposing that the continents were joined before drifting to their present positions.
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius, strongly encouraged by Gillis Hooftman and originally printed on 20 May 1570 in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of uniform map sheets and supporting 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. The publication of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570) is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography.
Johannes Janssonius was a Dutch cartographer and publisher who lived and worked in Amsterdam in the 17th century.
The year 1665 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu, also abbreviated to Willem Jansz. Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer, atlas maker, and publisher. Along with his son Johannes Blaeu, Willem is considered one of the notable figures of the Netherlandish or Dutch school of cartography during its golden age in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Jodocus Hondius was a Flemish and Dutch engraver and cartographer. He is sometimes called Jodocus Hondius the Elder to distinguish him from his son Jodocus Hondius II. Hondius is best known for his early maps of the New World and Europe, for re-establishing the reputation of the work of Gerard Mercator, and for his portraits of Francis Drake. He inherited and republished the plates of Mercator, thus reviving his legacy, also making sure to include independent revisions to his work. One of the notable figures in the Golden Age of Dutch cartography, he helped establish Amsterdam as the center of cartography in Europe in the 17th century.
Gerard de Jode was a Netherlandish cartographer, engraver, and publisher who lived and worked in Antwerp.
Melchisédech or Melchisédec Thévenot was a French author, scientist, traveller, cartographer, orientalist, inventor, and diplomat. He was the inventor of the spirit level and is also famous for his popular posthumously published 1696 book The Art of Swimming, one of the first books on the subject and widely read during the 18th century. The book popularized the breaststroke ; he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1990. He also influenced the founding of the Académie Royale des Sciences.
Joan Blaeu was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu.
Humphrey Llwyd (1527–1568) was a Welsh cartographer, author, antiquary and Member of Parliament. He was a leading member of the Renaissance period in Wales along with other such men as William Salesbury and William Morgan. His library, together with those of his patron, the Earl of Arundel and his brother-in-law, Lord Lumley, formed the basis of the Royal Collection of books; currently housed at the British Library. His motto was Hwy pery klod na golyd.
Frederik de Wit was a Dutch cartographer and artist.
Georg Braun was a German topo-geographer. From 1572 to 1617, he edited the Civitates orbis terrarum, which contains 546 prospects, bird's-eye views and maps of cities from all around the world. He was the principal editor of the work, he acquired the tables, hired the artists, and wrote the texts. He died as an octogenarian in 1622, as the only survivor of the original team to witness the publication of volume VI in 1617.
The Harmonia Macrocosmica is a star atlas written by Andreas Cellarius and published in 1660 by Johannes Janssonius. The first part of the atlas contains copper plate prints depicting the world systems of Claudius Ptolemy, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Tycho Brahe. At the end are star maps of the classical and further constellations, the latter ones as introduced by Julius Schiller in his Coelum stellatum christianum of 1627.
Willem Schellinks (1623–1678) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman and etcher of landscapes and marine scenes and also a poet. Willem Schellinks was one of the most widely traveled Dutch artists of his time. He traveled along the Loire and the Seine in 1646, and between 1661 and 1665 he visited England, France, Italy, Malta, Germany and Switzerland, keeping a record of his travels in multiple landscapes and scenic views as well as a journal. Alternative spellings, Schellinger and Schellinx.
The Atlas van Loon was commissioned by Frederik Willem van Loon of Amsterdam. It consists of a large number of maps published between 1649 and 1676:
Franciscus Haraeus, , was a theologian, historian, and cartographer from the Low Countries. He is best known for his history of the origins of the Dutch Revolt, written from a Catholic perspective but without polemical bias. He was one of the first cartographers to make thematic maps and globes.
Marcel Peter René van den Broecke was a Dutch specialist in phonetics and also in cartography, more in particular the historical maps by Abraham Ortelius.
The book commonly known as Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, the fifth volume of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Sive Atlas Novus, is the first known atlas of Scotland and Ireland. It was compiled by Joan Blaeu, and contains 49 engraved maps and 154 pages of descriptive text written in Latin; it was first published in 1654. Most of the maps were made by Timothy Pont, a Scottish cartographer. Those maps, made between 1583 and 1596, were collected, edited, and augmented with other maps by John Scot, Lord Scotstarvit, a Scottish laird.
