Atlas

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 Atlas, the "King of Mauretania", whom he considered to be the first great geographer.

Rather, that title is awarded to the collection of maps Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by the Brabantian cartographer Abraham Ortelius printed in 1570.

Unlike today, most atlases were not bound and ready for the customer to buy, but their possible components were shelved separately.