LEMNOS INSULAE An attractive and scarce copper engraved map of the island of Lemnos extracted from Abraham Ortelius's map of Cyprus, first published in 1573. Attached to the verso of a section of 18th century map. Measures approx. 318 x 170 mm. Good condition, see photo for condition. Attractive hand colour. A guaranteed genuine antique map. ABRAHAM ORTELIUS Abraham Ortelius (4 or 14 April 1527 – 28 June1598) was a Brabantian cartographer , geographer , and cosmographer . He is recognised as the creator of the first modern atlas , the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World). Along with Gemma Frisius and Gerardus Mercator , Ortelius is generally considered one of the founders of the Netherlandish school of cartography and geography . He was a notable figure of this school in its golden age ( approximately 1570s–1670s) and an important geographer of Spain during the age of discovery. The publication of his atlas in 1570 is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography . He was the first person proposing that the continents were joined before drifting to their present positions. In England Ortelius's contacts included William Camden, Richard Hakluyt, Thomas Penny, Puritan controversialist William Charke , and Humphrey Llwyd , who would contribute the map of England and Wales to Ortelius's 1573 edition of the Theatrum. In 1596, he received a presentation from Antwerp, similar to that afterwards bestowed on Peter Paul Rubens . His death on 28 June 1598 and his burial in the church of St. Michael's Abbey, Antwerp , were marked by public mourning. The inscription on his tombstone reads: Quietis cultor sine lite, uxore, prole (served quietly, without accusation, wife, and offspring”).