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Abraham Ortelius was born in Antwerp in 1526, and became a map colourist and acquired considerable skill at this craft, to the extent that 'some customers insisted on buying atlases coloured by him even after he had become a publisher, cartographer and merchant.' Ortelius graduated from colourist to merchant and attended the Frankfurt Book Fairs in pursuit of his trade where he first met Gerard Mercator, who became a lifelong friend.

Not content to stay at home, Ortelius travelled extensively to France, Italy, Germany, England and Ireland, and became fluent in Latin, German and French, in addition to his native Flemish. He also spoke Italian, Spanish and Greek. His business brought him in contact with scientists, mathematicians and cartographers, and it was one of these contacts who inspired the idea of the atlas - a uniform collection of maps. A private commission to produce a neat, easily handled volume containing as many small maps as possible, led Ortelius to consider how this would benefit scholars at large. In 1570 he published the Theatrum orbis terrarum. He continued to update and issue his atlases until his death in 1598.