Atlases have traditionally been bound intobook form, but today, many atlases are inmultimedia formats. In addition to presentinggeographical features andpolitical boundaries, many atlases often featuregeopolitical, social,religious, andeconomic statistics. They also have information about the map and places in it.
The use of the word "atlas" in a geographical context dates from 1595 when the Flemish geographerGerardus Mercator publishedAtlas 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 TitanAtlas, the "King of Mauretania", whom he considered to be the first great geographer.[1]
The first work that contained systematically arranged maps of uniform size representing the first modern atlas was prepared by Italian cartographerPietro 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 mapsTheatrum Orbis Terrarum by theBrabantian cartographerAbraham Ortelius printed in 1570.[3]
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.[4]
States began producing national atlases in the 19th century.[5]
Atravel 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;[a] city atlases are 1:20,000 to 1:25,000,[b] doubling for the central area (for example,Geographers' A-Z Map Company's A–Z atlas ofLondon is 1:22,000 forGreater London and 1:11,000 forCentral London).[c][6] A travel atlas may also be referred to as aroad map.[7]
Adesk atlas is made similar to areference book. It may be in hardback or paperback form.
^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 byOctavo. The text is freely available at theNew York Society LibraryArchived March 10, 2016, at theWayback Machine, pdf page 104 (corresponding to p. 34 of Sullivan's text).
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