The First recorded suggestion of Continental Drift - Thesaurus Geographicus - 1596 - Ortelius - Plantin

"Thesaurus Geographicus"

-Abraham Ortelius 

-Published in 1596 by Christopher Plantin

-Complete

-Early 17th Century binding (?contemporary). Front board loose and will need rebacking (on my list to do when I next go to the binders!)

This book is the first recorded suggestion of continental drift. Ortelius first postulates that the coasts of Africa and the Americas had once existed side by side. In his description of Gadricus, Plato's name for Atlantis, he writes: "If someone brings forward a map of the world and considers carefully thecoasts of Europe, Africa and America where they face each other, the vestiges of the rupture reveal themselves". 

This book was published by the famous publishers Plantin and Moretus in Antwerp which still exists to this day as a museum (and is well worth a visit!)