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An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of
maps of Earth A world map is a map of most or all of the surface of Earth. World maps, because of their scale, must deal with the problem of projection. Maps rendered in two dimensions by necessity distort the display of the three-dimensional surface of th ...
or of a region of
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
. Atlases have traditionally been bound into
book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
form, but today many atlases are in
multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
formats. In addition to presenting
geographic Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
features and political boundaries, many atlases often feature geopolitical, social, religious and
economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...
. 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 Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a 16th-century geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer from the County of Flanders. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on ...
published ("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 Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...
,
Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
, the "King of Mauretania", whom he considered to be the first great geographer.


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 Pietro Coppo (1469/70 – 1555/56; la, Petrus Coppus) was an Italian geographer and cartographer who wrote a description of the entire world as known in the 16th century, accompanied by a set of systematically arranged maps, one of the first rut ...
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 by the Brabantian cartographer
Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the ''Theatrum Orbis Terraru ...
printed in 1570. 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. States began producing national atlases in the 19th century.


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 Geographers' A–Z Map Company Ltd. is the largest independent map publisher in the United Kingdom, providing cartographic services, digital data products and paper mapping publications (including Street Atlases, Visitors' Guides, Great Brita ...
's 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''. A ''desk atlas'' is made similar to a
reference book A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to f ...
. It may be in hardback or paperback form. There are atlases of the other planets (and their satellites) in the
Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...
. Atlases of
anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...
exist, mapping out organs of the human body or other organisms.


Selected atlases

Some cartographically or commercially important atlases are: 17th century and earlier: *' (Mercator, Duisburg, in present-day Germany, 1595) *''
Atlas Novus An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
'' (Joan Blaeu, Netherlands, 1635–1658) *''
Atlas Maior The ''Atlas Maior'' is the final version of Joan Blaeu's atlas, published in Amsterdam between 1662 and 1672, in Latin (11 volumes), French (12 volumes), Dutch (9 volumes), German (10 volumes) and Spanish (10 volumes), containing 594 maps and a ...
'' (Blaeu, Netherlands, 1662–1667) * (France, 1658–1676) * ( Robert Dudley, England/Italy, 1645–1661) *
Piri Reis map The Piri Reis map is a world map compiled in 1513 by the Ottoman admiral and cartographer Piri Reis. Approximately one third of the map survives; it shows the western coasts of Europe and North Africa and the coast of Brazil with reasonable accu ...
( Piri Reis, Ottoman Empire, 1570–1612) *' (Ortelius, Netherlands, 1570–1612) *''
Klencke Atlas The ''Klencke Atlas'', first published in 1660, is one of the world's largest atlases.
'' (1660; one of the world's largest books) *''The Brittania'' (
John Ogilby John Ogilby (also ''Ogelby'', ''Oglivie''; November 1600 – 4 September 1676) was a Scottish translator, impresario and cartographer. Best known for publishing the first British road atlas, he was also a successful translator, noted for publishi ...
, 1670–1676) 18th century: *''Atlas Nouveau'' (Amsterdam, 1742) *''
Britannia Depicta ''Britannia Depicta'' was an illustrated road atlas for Britain. It was printed in numerous editions over many decades from 1720 into the 19th century and updated with engravings by many artisans who worked from drawings of other artists. It feat ...
'' (London, 1720) *'' Cary's New and Correct English Atlas'' (London, 1787) 19th century: * (Germany, 1881–1939; in the UK as '' Times Atlas of the World'', 1895) *'' Rand McNally Atlas'' (United States, 1881–present) * (Germany, 1817–1944) *'' Times Atlas of the World'' (United Kingdom, 1895–present) 20th century: * (Italy, 1927–1978) *''
Atlas Linguisticus ''Atlas Linguisticus'' is an atlas of the world's languages published in 1934 in Innsbruck by priest and researcher Albert Drexel (1889-1977) and cartographer Rosa Wimpissinger. The atlas consists of eight full-page (65 cm by 95 cm) maps and over ...
'' (Austria, 1934) * (Soviet Union/Russia, 1937–present) *'' Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas'' (United Kingdom, 1938–present) * (Spain, 1969/1970) *'' The Historical Atlas of China'' (China) *'' National Geographic Atlas'' of the World (United States, 1963–present) *''
Pergamon World Atlas The ''Pergamon World Atlas'' (in English, 1968) was originally prepared by the Polish Army Topographical Service. It was published as the ''Atlas Świata'' (World Atlas) in 1962. The atlas (cartography), atlas contains 380 pages of maps, figures a ...
'' (1962/1968) 21st century: *'' North American Environmental Atlas''


See also

*''
Atlas of Our Changing Environment ''Atlas of Our Changing Environment'' is a series of atlases published beginning in 2005 by the United Nations Environment Programme. The series includes: * One Planet Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment (2005) * Africa Lakes: Atla ...
'' *
Bird atlas A bird atlas is an ornithological work that attempts to provide information on the distribution, abundance, long-term change as well as seasonal patterns of bird occurrence and make extensive use of maps. They often involve a large numbers of volunt ...
*
Cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
*
Cartopedia ''Cartopedia: The Ultimate World Reference Atlas'' was an atlas program originally published by Dorling Kindersley Multimedia in 1995. It featured interactive world maps and graphs and charts of international statistics, and served as a reference ...
*
Cloud atlas A cloud atlas is a pictorial key (or an atlas) to the nomenclature of clouds. Early cloud atlases were an important element in the training of meteorologists and in weather forecasting, and the author of a 1923 atlas stated that "increasing use ...
*
European Atlas of the Seas The European Atlas of the Seas is an easy-to-use and interactive web-based atlas on the coasts and seas within and around Europe and provides information on Europe's marine environment. It is freely accessible on the internet. The latest version o ...
*
Fictitious entry Fictitious or fake entries are deliberately incorrect entries in reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedias (including Wikipedia), maps, and directories. There are more specific terms for particular kinds of fictitious entry, such as Moun ...
*
Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
*
Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...
*
Manifold In mathematics, a manifold is a topological space that locally resembles Euclidean space near each point. More precisely, an n-dimensional manifold, or ''n-manifold'' for short, is a topological space with the property that each point has a n ...
*
NASA World Wind NASA WorldWind is an open-source (released under the NOSA license and the Apache 2.0 license) virtual globe. According to the website (https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/), "WorldWind is an open source virtual globe API. WorldWind allow ...
* National Atlas of the United States * Star atlas *
TerraServer-USA Microsoft Research Maps (MSR Maps) was a free online repository of public domain aerial imagery and topographic maps provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The site was a collaboration between Microsoft Research (MSR), Bing Maps, an ...
*
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum ''Theatrum Orbis Terrarum'' (, "Theatre of the Orb of the World") 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 consist ...


References


External links

;Sources
On the origin of the term "Atlas"
;Online atlases
World AtlasÖROK-Atlas Online
Atlas on spatial development in Austria
Geography NetworkMapChart EarthAtlas
free online atlas with interactive maps about topics like demography, economy, health and environment.
National Geographic MapMachine
;History of atlases

- a discussion of many significant atlases, with some illustrations. Part of

;Historical atlases online
Centennia Historical Atlas
required reading at the US Naval Academy for over a decade.

Perry–Castañeda Library, University of Texas
Ryhiner Collection
Composite atlas with maps, plans and views from the 16th-18th centuries, covering the globe, with about 16,000 images in total.

- fully digitized with descriptions. * ttps://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/ Historical Atlas in Persuasive Cartography, The PJ Mode Collection
Cornell University Library The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. As of 2014, it holds over 8 million printed volumes and over a million ebooks. More than 90 percent of its current 120,000 Periodical literature, periodical titles are ...
;Other links
Google Earth:
a visual 3D interactive atlas.


Wikimapia
a wikiproject designed to describe the entire world. {{Authority control