Map of the New World, in the 1570 edition of the Ortelius Atlas (Theatrum Orbis Terrarum). Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) was a Flemish mapmaker who is considered to have produced the first true atlas (collection of uniform maps in one book). Ortelius worked in Antwerp, the Netherlands. This map is titled: Americae Sive Novi Orbis Nova Descriptio (new description of the new world of America). The map shows a greatly distorted South America and a largely unknown North America. A large unknown continent is shown to the south, and illustrations of ships are seen on the oceans. The course of the major rivers are also mapped. In South America are the Amazon, Parana and Uruguay rivers.