ORTELIUS (Abraham), a celebrated geographer, born at Antwerp, in 1527, was well skilled in the languages and the mathematics; and acquired such reputation by his skill in geography, that he was sur-named the Ptolemy of his time. Justus Lipsius, and most of the great men of the 16th century, were Ortelius's friends. He resided at Oxford, in the reign of Edward VI. and came a second time into England, in 1577. His Theatrum Orbis was the complete work of the kind that had ever been published, and gained him a reputation equal to his immense labour in compiling it. He also wrote several other excellent geographical works; the principal of which are his Thesaurus, and his Synonyma Geographica. The world is likewise obliged to him for the Britannia, which he persuaded Camden to undertake. He died at Antwerp, in 1598.