Ortelius created his most important work, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, in 1570. It was the first modern world atlas: it set the precedent for incorporating a comprehensive world map and a set of clearly related component maps of distinct and smaller regions.

Americae Sive Novi Orbis, Nova Descriptio is Ortelius' mapping of the Western hemisphere, The New World. It is beautifully colored and elaborately engraved with a fascinating pictorial border. It comprehensively documents every known continental settlement and island discovery from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

See the Ortelius World Map.