Editing Atlas (section)

==Etymology==
The use of the word "atlas" in a geographical context dates from 1595 when the German-Flemish geographer [[Gerardus Mercator]] published {{lang|la|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 17th century. The neologism coined by Mercator was a mark of his respect for the Titan [[Atlas (mythology)|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  [https://web.archive.org/web/20050314051106/http://www.octavo.com/editions/mcrats/ Octavo]. The text is freely available    at the [http://mail.nysoclib.org/Mercator_Atlas/MCRATS.PDF New York Society Library]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310032427/http://mail.nysoclib.org/Mercator_Atlas/MCRATS.PDF|date=March 10, 2016}}, pdf page 104 (corresponding to p. 34 of Sullivan's text).</ref>