An atlas is a collection of maps or manifolds, traditionally bound into book form, but also found in multimedia formats. As well as geographic features and political boundaries, many often feature geopolitical, social, religious and economic statistics. History - Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570)]]The earliest atlases were not called by that name at the time of their publication, as it was introduced in 1595 by Mercator. The first book that in hindsight could be called an atlas was constructed from the calculations of Claudius Ptolemy, a geographer working in Alexandria circa A.D. 150. The first edition was published in Bologna in 1477 and was illustrated with a set of 27 maps, though scholars say that it is not known whether the printed maps were engraved versions of original maps made by Ptolemy, or whether they were constructed by medieval Greek scholars from Ptolemy's text. From about 1544, many maps

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