"The Civitates orbis terrarum or the 'Braun & Hogenberg' is the most famous of the early town atlases. The Civitates was, like Ortelius' Theatrum, one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Although it had no comparable predecessor, it immediately answered a great public demand because social, political and economic life at that time was concentrated in cities. Apart from that the pictorial style of the plans and views appealed very much to the uneducated public" (Van der Krogt). It is likely that the volumes were actually intended for the educated reader, as there are far more editions in Latin than in German and French. The titles for the latter editions were printed on slips and pasted over the Latin titles. The Civitates was published in Cologne from 1572 until 1617.

The contents of the parts is as follows: Part 1. 56 (of 58), lacking plates 1 "Londinum" and 32 "Decem et tria Loca Confoederatorum Helvetiae"; Part 2. 56 (of 59), lacking plates 40 "Basilea", 49 "Roma" and 56 "Alexandria"; Part 3. 59; Part 4. 59; Part 5. 70 (of 69), additional plate "Toletum, Pincia Vulgo Valladolid".