Atlas

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Frontispiece of the 1595 Atlas of Mercator

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

Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today, many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographical 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

The use of the word "atlas" in a geographical context dates from 1595 when the German-Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator published Template:Lang ("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 17th 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.<ref>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 Template:Webarchive, pdf page 104 (corresponding to p. 34 of Sullivan's text).</ref>

History

File:89v 90r نزهة المشتاق Arabe 2221 BNF.jpg

The Maghreb (south-up) in Muhammad al-Idrisi's Nuzhat al-Mushtāq (Template:Lang), also known as the Template:Lang (12th century).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

File:Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, by Abraham Ortelius, World, 1572.jpg

World map Template:Lang (Theatre of the Orb of the World) by Abraham Ortelius, 1570

File:Nova et Accuratissima Terrarum Orbis Tabula (J.Blaeu, 1664).jpg

Joan Blaeu's world map, originally prepared by Blaeu for his Atlas Maior, published in the first book of the Atlas van Loon (1664).

File:Banduri, Covens et Mortier and Lisle. Imperii Orientalis et Circumjacentium Regionum.1742.jpg

Imperii Orientalis et Circumjacentium Regionum by Guillaume Delisle (1742)

File:Anglia Atlas.jpg

Map of England and Wales by Christopher Saxton, Atlas of the Counties of England and Wales, 1579

The first work that contained systematically arranged maps of uniform size representing the first modern atlas was prepared by Italian cartographer Pietro Coppo in the early 16th century; however, it was not published at that time, so it is conventionally not considered the first atlas. Rather, that title is awarded to the collection of maps Template:Lang by the Brabantian cartographer Abraham Ortelius printed in 1570.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Atlases published nowadays are quite different from those published in the 16th–19th centuries. Unlike today, most atlases were not bound and ready for the customer to buy, but their possible components were shelved separately. The client could select the contents to their liking, and have the maps coloured/gilded or not. The atlas was then bound. Thus, early printed atlases with the same title page can be different in contents.<ref>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.</ref>

States began producing national atlases in the 19th century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Types

A travel atlas is made for easy use during travel, and often has spiral bindings, so it may be folded flat. National atlases in Europe are typically printed at a scale of 1:250,000 to 1:500,000;Template:Efn city atlases are 1:20,000 to 1:25,000,Template:Efn doubling for the central area (for example, Geographers' A-Z Map Company's A–Z atlas of London is 1:22,000 for Greater London and 1:11,000 for Central London).Template:Efn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A travel atlas may also be referred to as a road map.<ref>Template:Cite dictionary</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Atlases of anatomy exist, mapping out organs of the human body or other organisms.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Selected atlases

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Some cartographically or commercially important atlases are:

17th century and earlier:

Template:Lang 1570 atlas by Abraham Ortelius
Template:Lang (Mercator, Duisburg, in present-day Germany, 1595)
Template:Lang (Joan Blaeu, Netherlands, 1635–1658)
Template:Lang (Blaeu, Netherlands, 1662–1667)
Template:Lang (France, 1658–1676)
Template:Lang (Robert Dudley, England/Italy, 1645–1661)
Piri Reis map (Piri Reis, Ottoman Empire, 1570–1612)
Template:Lang (Ortelius, Netherlands, 1570–1612)
Klencke Atlas (1660; one of the world's largest books)
Britannia (1675), John Ogilby (1600–1676), first to be printed at a specific scale (1:63,360 or one inch to one mile

18th century

Template:Lang (Amsterdam, 1742)
Template:Lang (London, 1720)
Cary's New and Correct English Atlas (London, 1787)

19th century:

Template:Lang (Germany, 1881–1939; in the UK as Times Atlas of the World, 1895)
Rand McNally Atlas (United States, 1881–present)
Template:Lang (Germany, 1817–1944)
Times Atlas of the World (United Kingdom, 1895–present)

20th century: