Atlas

An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or a region of Earth.

For the Titan condemned to hold the heavens on his shoulders, see Atlas (mythology). For other uses, see Atlas (disambiguation).
Imperii Orientalis et Circumjacentium Regionum by Guillaume Delisle (1742)

Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic features and political boundaries, many atlases often feature geopolitical, social, religious and economic statistics. They also have information about the map and places in it.

Etymology
Frontispiece of the 1595 atlas of Mercator

The use of the word "atlas" in a geographical context dates from 1595 when the German-Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator published Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura. (Atlas or cosmographical meditations upon the creation of the universe, and the universe as created.) This title provides Mercator's definition of the word as a description of the creation and form of the whole universe, not simply as a collection of maps. The volume that was published posthumously one year after his death is a wide-ranging text but, as the editions evolved, it became simply a collection of maps and it is in that sense that the word was used from the middle of the seventeenth century. The neologism coined by Mercator was a mark of his respect for the Titan, Atlas, the "King of Mauretania", whom he considered to be the first great geographer.[1]

History of atlases

The first work that contained systematically arranged maps of uniform size representing the first modern atlas was prepared by Italian cartographer Pietro Coppo in early 16th century, however it wasn't published at the time so is conventionally not considered the first atlas. Rather, this title is awarded to the collection of maps Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by the Brabantian cartographer Abraham Ortelius printed in 1570. There is, however, quite a difference in the way atlases were published in the 16th-19th centuries and nowadays. Unlike now most atlases were not bound and ready for the customer to buy, but their possible components were shelved separately. The client could change the contents to their liking, have the maps coloured/gilded or not and after publisher and customer agreed the atlas was bound. Therefor it is possible that early printed atlases with the same title page can be different in contents[2].

Types of atlases

A travel atlas is made for easy use during travel, and often has spiral bindings so it may be folded flat (for example Geographers' A-Z Map Company famous A–Z atlases). It has maps at a large zoom so the maps can be reviewed easily. A travel atlas may also be referred to as a road map.[3]

A desk atlas is made similar to a reference book. It may be in hardback or paperback form.

There are atlases of the other planets (and their satellites) in the Solar System.[4]

Atlases of anatomy exist, mapping out organs of the human body or other organisms.[5]

Selected atlases
Main article: List of atlases

Some cartographically or commercially important atlases include the following:

17th century and earlier
18th century
19th century
20th century
21st century

See also

References
  1. Mercator's own account of the reasons for choosing King Atlas are given in the preface of the 1595 atlas. A translation by David Sullivan is available in a digital version of the atlas published by Octavo. The text is freely available at the New York Society Library Archived March 10, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, pdf page 104 (corresponding to p34 of Sullivan's text).
  2. Jan Smits, Todd Fell (2011). Early printed atlases: shaping Plato's 'Forms' into bibliographic descriptions. In: Journal of map & geography libraries : advances in geospatial information, collections & archives, (ISSN 1542-0353), 7(2011)2, p. 184-210.
  3. "Road map". Merriam Webster. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  4. Greeley, Ronald; Batson, Raymond. The NASA Atlas of the Solar System. ISBN 978-0521561273.
  5. Schwartz, John (2008-04-22). "The Body in Depth". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
Sources
Online atlases
History of atlases
Historical atlases online
Other links
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