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34-466: The Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas , commonly shortened to A–Z (pronounced "Ay to Zed"), is a title given to any one of a range of atlases of streets in the United Kingdom produced by Geographers' A–Z Map Company Limited . Its first atlas, of London , was originally compiled in the 1930s by Phyllis Pearsall . The company she founded now publishes street maps of many cities and towns in

68-455: A 2005 episode of Nicholas Crane 's Map Man TV programme. This revealed that, on all their maps, A–Z print a non-existent trap street so that they can tell if a map has been illegally copied from theirs, a technique used by several publishers of reference works (see fictitious entry ). The story of Pearsall's development of the A–Z also inspired the musical The A–Z of Mrs P . The London A–Z

102-582: A couple of tourists. Geographers' A–Z Map Company was the official supplier of atlases and maps for the 2012 Olympic Games and 2012 Paralympic Games and produced detailed maps for the Olympic Park in Stratford , as well as all the other venues that were used during the games in London and throughout the United Kingdom . They produced three special maps detailing transport information on getting to

136-403: A description of the creation and form of the whole universe, not simply as a collection of maps. The volume that was published posthumously one year after his death is a wide-ranging text but, as the editions evolved, it became simply a collection of maps and it is in that sense that the word was used from the middle of the 17th century. The neologism coined by Mercator was a mark of his respect for

170-522: Is a plot device in " The Blind Banker ", the second episode of the first series of the BBC drama Sherlock when the protagonist is attempting to decipher a book code used by an international smuggling ring based on a book "everybody owns". After attempting to decipher the code using a dictionary and the Bible , Sherlock goes out into Baker Street and appropriates a copy of the A–Z after seeing it being used by

204-488: Is awarded to the collection of maps Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by the Brabantian cartographer Abraham Ortelius printed in 1570. Atlases published nowadays are quite different from those published in the 16th–19th centuries. Unlike today, most atlases were not bound and ready for the customer to buy, but their possible components were shelved separately. The client could select the contents to their liking, and have

238-509: Is inscribed on two 5th-century BC Etruscan bronze items: a mirror from Vulci and a ring from an unknown site. Both objects depict the encounter with Atlas of Hercle —the Etruscan Heracles —identified by the inscription; they represent rare instances where a figure from Greek mythology was imported into Etruscan mythology , but the name was not. The Etruscan name Aril is etymologically independent. Sources describe Atlas as

272-762: The Hesperides , the Hyades , the Pleiades , and the nymph Calypso who lived on the island Ogygia . The term " atlas " has been used to describe a collection of maps since the 16th century when Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator published his work in honor of the mythological Titan. The " Atlantic Ocean " is derived from "Sea of Atlas". The name of Atlantis mentioned in Plato's Timaeus ' dialogue derives from "Atlantis nesos" ( Ancient Greek : Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος ), literally meaning "Atlas's Island". The etymology of

306-636: The Titanomachy . Atlas also plays a role in the myths of two of the greatest Greek heroes : Heracles ( Hercules in Roman mythology ) and Perseus . According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod , Atlas stood at the ends of the earth in the extreme west . Later, he became commonly identified with the Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa and was said to be the first King of Mauretania (modern-day Morocco and west Algeria , not to be confused with

340-631: The golden apples , and Gorgons both of which were said to live beyond Ocean in the extreme west of the world since Hesiod 's Theogony . Diodorus and Palaephatus mention that the Gorgons lived in the Gorgades, islands in the Aethiopian Sea . The main island was called Cerna, and modern-day arguments have been advanced that these islands may correspond to Cape Verde due to Phoenician exploration. The Northwest Africa region emerged as

374-469: The Titan Atlas , the "King of Mauretania", whom he considered to be the first great geographer. The first work that contained systematically arranged maps of uniform size representing the first modern atlas was prepared by Italian cartographer Pietro Coppo in the early 16th century; however, it was not published at that time, so it is conventionally not considered the first atlas. Rather, that title

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408-517: The UK. Until relatively recently, maps produced by the Geographers' (A–Z) Map Company did not include a publication date. It is possible to determine a date range for publication due to the following: On all A–Z maps, there is a three or four letter code in one of the corners, often the one containing the key. These letters represent numbers, which are the cartographic date, in the form (M)MYY. There

442-548: The canonical home of the King via separate sources. In particular, according to Ovid, after Perseus turns Atlas into a mountain range, he flies over Aethiopia , the blood of Medusa's head giving rise to Libyan snakes. By the time of the Roman Empire , the habit of associating Atlas's home to a chain of mountains, the Atlas Mountains , which were near Mauretania and Numidia , was firmly entrenched. The identifying name Aril

476-511: The central area (for example, Geographers' A-Z Map Company 's A–Z atlas of London is 1:22,000 for Greater London and 1:11,000 for Central London ). A travel atlas may also be referred to as a road map . A desk atlas is made similar to a reference book . It may be in hardback or paperback form. There are atlases of the other planets (and their satellites) in the Solar System . Atlases of anatomy exist, mapping out organs of

510-497: The dragon Ladon . Heracles went to Atlas and offered to hold up the heavens while Atlas got the apples from his daughters. Upon his return with the apples, however, Atlas attempted to trick Heracles into carrying the sky permanently by offering to deliver the apples himself, as anyone who purposely took the burden must carry it forever, or until someone else took it away. Heracles, suspecting Atlas did not intend to return, pretended to agree to Atlas's offer, asking only that Atlas take

544-460: The father, by different goddesses, of numerous children, mostly daughters. Some of these are assigned conflicting or overlapping identities or parentage in different sources. Hyginus , in his Fabulae , adds an older Atlas who is the son of Aether and Gaia . Atlas' best-known cultural association is in cartography . The first publisher to associate the Titan Atlas with a group of maps

578-478: The first king of Atlantis was also named Atlas , but that Atlas was a son of Poseidon and the mortal woman Cleito. The works of Eusebius and Diodorus also give an Atlantean account of Atlas. In these accounts, Atlas' father was Uranus and his mother was Gaia . His grandfather was Elium "King of Phoenicia " who lived in Byblos with his wife Beruth . Atlas was raised by his sister, Basilia . Atlas

612-408: The human body or other organisms. Some cartographically or commercially important atlases are: 17th century and earlier : 18th century 19th century : 20th century : 21st century : Atlas (mythology) In Greek mythology , Atlas ( / ˈ æ t l ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἄτλας , Átlās ) is a Titan condemned to hold up the heavens or sky for eternity after

646-467: The map and places in it. The use of the word "atlas" in a geographical context dates from 1595 when the German-Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator published Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura ("Atlas or cosmographical meditations upon the creation of the universe and the universe as created"). This title provides Mercator's definition of the word as

680-513: The maps coloured/gilded or not. The atlas was then bound. Thus, early printed atlases with the same title page can be different in contents. States began producing national atlases in the 19th century. A travel atlas is made for easy use during travel, and often has spiral bindings, so it may be folded flat. National atlases in Europe are typically printed at a scale of 1:250,000 to 1:500,000; city atlases are 1:20,000 to 1:25,000, doubling for

714-576: The modern-day country of Mauritania ). Atlas was said to have been skilled in philosophy , mathematics , and astronomy . In antiquity, he was credited with inventing the first celestial sphere . In some texts, he is even credited with the invention of astronomy itself. Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Asia or Clymene . He was a brother of Epimetheus and Prometheus . He had many children, mostly daughters,

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748-475: The myth of Heracles. In this account Atlas is not a shepherd, but a king. According to Ovid, Perseus arrives in Atlas's Kingdom and asks for shelter, declaring he is a son of Zeus. Atlas, fearful of a prophecy that warned of a son of Zeus stealing his golden apples from his orchard, refuses Perseus hospitality. In this account, Atlas is turned not just into stone by Perseus, but an entire mountain range: Atlas's head

782-475: The name Atlas is uncertain. Virgil took pleasure in translating etymologies of Greek names by combining them with adjectives that explained them: for Atlas his adjective is durus , "hard, enduring", which suggested to George Doig that Virgil was aware of the Greek τλῆναι "to endure"; Doig offers the further possibility that Virgil was aware of Strabo 's remark that the native North African name for this mountain

816-591: The peak, his shoulders ridges and his hair woods. The prophecy did not relate to Perseus stealing the golden apples but to Heracles , another son of Zeus, and Perseus's great-grandson. One of the Twelve Labours of the hero Heracles was to fetch some of the golden apples that grow in Hera 's garden, tended by Atlas's reputed daughters, the Hesperides (which were also called the Atlantides), and guarded by

850-550: The sky again for a few minutes so Heracles could rearrange his cloak as padding on his shoulders. When Atlas set down the apples and took the heavens upon his shoulders again, Heracles took the apples and ran away. In some versions, Heracles instead built the two great Pillars of Hercules to hold the sky away from the earth, liberating Atlas much as he liberated Prometheus . Besides the Titan, there are other mythological characters who were also called Atlas: According to Plato ,

884-430: The solidity of the marble globe borne by the renowned Farnese Atlas may have aided the conflation, reinforced in the 16th century by the developing usage of atlas to describe a corpus of terrestrial maps . The Greek poet Polyidus c.  398 BC tells a tale of Atlas, then a shepherd, encountering Perseus who turned him to stone . Ovid later gives a more detailed account of the incident, combining it with

918-669: The venues and also provided information on events related to the 2012 Cultural Olympiad . In addition, A–Z provided special sections relating to the Games in their 2012 editions of their main UK-wide and local maps. Atlas (cartography) Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today, many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographical features and political boundaries , many atlases often feature geopolitical , social, religious , and economic statistics . They also have information about

952-457: The western edge of the earth and hold up the sky on his shoulders. Thus, he was Atlas Telamon , "enduring Atlas", and became a doublet of Coeus , the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve. A common misconception today is that Atlas was forced to hold the Earth on his shoulders, but Classical art shows Atlas holding the celestial spheres , not the terrestrial globe ;

986-441: The word Atlas as a dedication specifically to honor the Titan Atlas, in his capacity as King of Mauretania , a learned philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer. In psychology, Atlas is used metaphorically to describe the personality of someone whose childhood was characterized by excessive responsibilities . Ayn Rand's political dystopian novel Atlas Shrugged (1957) references the popular misconception of Atlas holding up

1020-700: Was Douris . Since the Atlas Mountains rise in the region inhabited by Berbers , it has been suggested that the name might be taken from one of the Berber languages , specifically from the word ádrār "mountain". Traditionally historical linguists etymologize the Ancient Greek word Ἄτλας ( genitive : Ἄτλαντος) as comprised from copulative α- and the Proto-Indo-European root *telh₂- 'to uphold, support' (whence also τλῆναι), and which

1054-481: Was also a legendary king of Mauretania , the land of the Mauri in antiquity roughly corresponding with modern Morocco and Algeria . In the 16th century, Gerardus Mercator put together the first collection of maps to be called an " Atlas " and devoted his book to the "King of Mauretania". Atlas became associated with Northwest Africa over time. He had been connected with the Hesperides , or "Nymphs", which guarded

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1088-444: Was at least one scheme used, and perhaps a second. In one scheme, the letters JIHGFEDCBA represent the digits 1 to 9 and 0, so that HFD would be 357, indicating a publication date of March 1957. This seems to have been used on all the company's folding maps, and possibly also those in book form. The Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas and the story of how Phyllis Pearsall came to write the first edition covering London were featured in

1122-612: Was later reshaped to an nt-stem. However, Robert S. P. Beekes argues that it cannot be expected that this ancient Titan carries an Indo-European name, and he suggests instead that the word is of Pre-Greek origin, as such words often end in -ant . Atlas and his brother Menoetius sided with the Titans in their war against the Olympians , the Titanomachy . When the Titans were defeated, many of them (including Menoetius) were confined to Tartarus , but Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at

1156-467: Was the print-seller Antonio Lafreri , who included a depiction of the Titan on the engraved titlepage he applied to his ad hoc assemblages of maps, Tavole Moderne di Geografia de la Maggior parte del Mondo di Diversi Autori (1572). However, Lafreri did not use the word "Atlas" in the title of his work; this was an innovation of Gerardus Mercator , who named his work Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati (1585–1595), using

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