Typus Orbis Terrarum, 1573

Author:		Ortelius, Abraham		Date:		1573
Title:		Typus Orbis Terrarum		BIB:		10, 13

Nearly identical in geographic content to the 1570 edition of the Typus Orbis Terraum, this map was included in the 1573 edition of Abraham Ortelius' monumental atlas entitled Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. The differences from the 1570 edition of this map are mostly decorative, consisting of changes in each map's background and the colors used to illustrate them. A map illuminator for many years before turning cartographer, Ortelius was a highly skilled map colorist. Both the 1570 and the 1573 editions of this map reflect his talents. He wanted his maps not only to be beautiful, but also to be as accurate as possible for their time. Therefore, they can be viewed as representative of sixteenth century geographic knowledge, but also of its misconceptions. For example, in this map the Indian Ocean erroneously appears almost landlocked, more of a lake than an ocean, and the Arctic and Antarctic poles have inordinately large land masses associated with them. The Antarctic continent, which, at that time, was known only as Terra Australis Incognita, or "Unknown Southern Land", fills more than half of the southern hemisphere, totally engulfing what should be Australia.

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