The Mercator Atlas of Europe - Pages 5 and 6

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Portugal, f.2

This map is from the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum(Theatre of the World), an atlas by Mercator's fellow mapmaker and friend, Abraham Ortelius, first published in 1570. It was copied from a map by Fernando Alvarez Secco.

In producing the Theatrum Ortelius beat Mercator to publishing the first modern atlas, although Mercator had probably had the idea of binding together similar-sized maps in an atlas format first, and later introduced the term atlas. While Mercator was to insist on creating his own maps for his atlas, Ortelius adapted the work of other mapmakers for his atlas. Mercator's maps were one of his most important sources.

Ortelius' map of Portugal is orientated with west at the top. Though Portugal was at the forefront of European exploration, navigation, and mapmaking in the 15th and 16th centuries, less attention was paid to the mapping of Portugal itself. While the coastline is detailed and accurate, as are the lines of the principal rivers, the inland region of Braganza in the north east is particularly exaggerated in size.