Atlases and Globes

Today, the term atlas has long been established as a designation for collections of connected maps in book form. Gerhard Mercator first used it in this sense in 1595, in the title of his work Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura. He was inspired by the Greek mythical figure of the same name, who carries the vault of heaven on his shoulders.

Among the most important and valuable atlases in the library are the hand-drawn sea atlases of the Portuguese Diogo Homem from 1568, the sea atlas of the Venetian Battista Agnese from 1544 (more on this here in the SLUBlog) and the sea manual of the Turkish admiral Piri Reis from 1550 with 120 coloured text maps.

In addition to these important documents relating to the history of discovery, there are numerous printed map works from the 15th and 16th centuries, including nine woodcut editions by the ancient cartographer Claudius Ptolemy. Particularly impressive are the oldest edition, printed in Ulm in 1482, and the edition published in Rome in 1508 in copperplate engraving, which contains for the first time a world map by Johannes Ruysch, in which large parts of America can already be seen with the designation "mundus novus" ("new world").

In addition, there are map works of the 16th century, for example by Apian (1568), Strabon (1571), Theve (1575), Ortelius (1570), Gerard de Jode (1578), Cellarius (1578),Waghenaer (1583-1586), Quad (1596), Mercator (1595) and Metellus (1600), which in their relative unity convey a picture of the heyday of Dutch cartography in particular.

The 17th century is represented by atlases, often in several volumes, by Hondius (-1638), Blaeu (1631, 1662), Jansson (1641), de Witt (1680), Coronelli (1691) and Sanson (1692). Also outstanding is the anthology Theatrum urbium(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 ) by the Dresden architect and master builder Johann Georg Starcke, published in 1695, with high-quality coloured views of cities and fortresses of the time.

Considered one of the library's greatest treasures was the royal atlaswhich was commissioned by Augustus the Strong and compiled in Amsterdam between 1706 and 1710. Ten of the 19 red morocco volumes are still preserved in Dresden. They contained 1,400 magnificently illuminated printed and drawn maps, views, plans and portraits. Other valuable unique collected atlases are the four-volume Atlas Poloniae of 1790 and the 25-volume Atlas selectus from the year 1793.

The very valuable old holdings are continued by universal atlases from the 19th century such as the Hand Atlas by Adolf Stieler and the Hand Atlas by Richard Andree.

The modern holdings of the SLUB include about 2,320 atlases. You will find here:

• World atlases
• National atlases (country level and cross-national area atlases)
• Satellite and space image atlases
• Historical atlases
• Urban atlases
• Environmental atlases
• School atlases
• Thematic atlases on climate/soil/geology/morphology/hydrology/hydrography/agriculture and forestry/medicine (epidemics)/ecology/oceanography
• Tourist atlases

Research online

You can search the entire collection of atlases and globes in the SLUB catalogue. There you can also see which atlases have already been digitised. The digitised copies can be found in the Deutsche Fotothek or in our Digital Collections. We have linked outstanding historical atlases from our holdings directly in the text above.

Use at the SLUB

Our modern holdings of around 2,320 atlases can be borrowed or used on site, just like other materials. You can view the historical atlases and globes in the Collections reading room after ordering in advance.

Feel free to contact us!
Simply book an individual consultation via the Knowledge Bar.
Contact
Dominik Stoltz
Phone: +49 351 4677-530
E-mail: dominik.stoltz@slub-dresden.de