Map of Romania, 1584

This sixteenth century map of Romania is part of Abraham Ortelius' fourth edition of 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum'.

Abraham Ortelius, map maker, was born in Antwerp; the son of a merchant who probably dealt in antiques. Having begun his career as a map illuminator and later worked as a dealer and collector of maps, it was a natural progression for Ortelius to begin drafting maps himself. However, his maps were created by editing earlier examples, rather than resulting from original cartography. His first, a map of the world was published in 1564 and it was followed by maps of Egypt (1565), Asia (1567), Spain (1570) and the Roman Empire (1571). In 1570 he published 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum', the first modern atlas covering the entire world, as it was known at the time.