Can you imagine that the first world maps date back to Greece 600 years before Christ? The Greek cartographer, Anaximander, rendered the world according to what was then known about the globe. Four hundred years later, another Greek produced a map of the world showing England, India and North Africa.

These Greeks, however, may not have been the first cartographers as archaeologists have found silk maps in China somewhat earlier.

As the centuries rolled by, mapmakers increased in their accuracy and by Ptolemy’s time, they had become astonishingly accurate, at least for Europe, parts of Asia and North Africa. During the Dark Ages mapmaking ceased in Europe, but flourished in the Arab world as seamen needed accurate charts for their explorations. It is not surprising that the Arabs, namely, the geographer named Al-Idrisi, came up with an admirable world map by 1154.

As traveling became more widespread during the Renaissance owing to the expansion of trading relationships, the demand for maps increased dramatically. Maps, like books, had been reproduced in monasteries by painstaking monks, but the year 1450 brought a revolution to the printing process, as Gutenberg introduced his printing press.

In the year 1507, scarcely a decade after the discovery of the American continent, a German mapmaker published a world map consisting of 12 panels, and featured the newly discovered American continent. The first world atlas followed 63 years later with 70 maps created by the Flemish cartographer, Abraham Ortelius. This atlas was so popular that it went through 36 editions and was translated into German, French, English, Latin, Dutch and Spanish and Italian.

The fascination with early maps continues in this day as modern enthusiasts peruse the World Wide Web for authentic reproductions of these precious early maps.