BELGIUM

BELGIUM / BELGIQUE - BELGIË.

Series: struggle against Tuberculosis.
Portrait of Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598), Flemish geographer, cartographer, cosmographer.
Seventh stamp in a set of 9, issued on 15.05.1942.
Face value: 3.25 + 3.25 Belgian francs.
Design and engraving: Maurice Poortman and Emiel Renard.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 675,400 copies.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 606.
- StampWorld No. 591.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 992.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 599.

Abraham Ortelius (Antwerp, April 14, 1527 - June 28, 1598), also written as Oertel, Orthellius or Wortels, was a Flemish geographer and cartographer. Together with Mercator, he is the father of Flemish cartography. In 1575 he was appointed geographer to Felipe II of Spain, a position that allowed him access to the knowledge accumulated by Spanish and Portuguese explorers. His best known work is the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (published in Antwerp on May 20, 1570), considered the first modern atlas. Its first version contained 70 maps: 56 for areas of Europe, 10 for Asia and Africa, and one for each continent.