Atlas över Sverige = National Atlas of Sweden

Sweden · Svenska Sällskapet för Antropologi och Geografi; Generalstabens Litografiska Anstalts Förlag · 1953–1971

Editors’ Accounts

Atlas of Sweden: Account of its creation and some observations on the cartographic presentation

Magnus Lundqvist · 1953

Magnus Lundqvist recounts the compilation of Atlas över Sverige and explains its editorial and cartographic choices while publication was still underway. Following earlier Swedish plans inspired by Finland’s national atlas, the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography revived the project in 1940; Lundqvist submitted a detailed proposal in 1943, and work began in 1945 with Wallenberg Foundation support, state lottery funding and Esselte’s financial guarantee. He describes continuing financial difficulties and institutional collaboration supplying statistical, geological, climatic and settlement material. The planned atlas comprised 150 map sheets, roughly 1,000 maps and 200–300 pages of text in 14 sections on Sweden’s nature, culture and economy. Recruitment difficulties prompted publication in 25 loose fascicles as sheets became ready. Lundqvist explains the exclusion or postponement of rapidly changing subjects and the use of 1935–1939 yield averages and 1937 crop-area figures, which the editors considered representative of normal conditions. His methodological examples cover relief analysis using 25 km² grid cells, geological maps relevant to soil fertility, elevation-adjusted temperature mapping, growing-season climate and frost frequencies, and population maps distinguishing uninhabited areas and urban settlements. Agricultural maps combine absolute and relative representations, proportional dots and contours generalized from old-municipality statistics; a smaller scale for Norrland saves space and moderates the apparent uniformity produced by its large municipalities. Colour sequences and graphic design aim at legibility for a broad readership. Forestry, industry and trade sections remained pending, while some income and wealth mapping had begun.

Cartographic technique in the Atlas of Sweden

Olof Hedbom · 1960

Olof Hedbom describes production of the Atlas of Sweden, with planning, manuscript compilation, drawing, reproduction, printing and bookbinding all carried out in one building. He credits this arrangement with generally achieving an optimum time-cost ratio and presents examples of how map manuscripts and the editor-in-chief’s ideas are individually transformed into printed atlas maps.

Reviews & Responses

Foreign cartography: Atlas of Sweden

P. Marino · 1954

The new atlas of Sweden

Joachim Blüthgen · 1954

This article reviews the initial installments of Atlas över Sverige, launched in 1953 as Sweden’s first comprehensive national geographical atlas. Against the background of Nordic atlas production and the analytical orientation of Scandinavian geographical research, it assesses the project’s scholarly significance, editorial organization, cartographic design, and thematic scope. The evaluation is based on the first fifteen of seventy-five planned map sheets and therefore emphasizes technical and methodological features rather than a definitive appraisal of the completed work. Published by the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, the atlas combines expert contributions, bilingual Swedish-English texts and legends, explanatory tables and diagrams, and high-quality multicolor offset printing. Its maps cover physical geography, population, agriculture, forestry, industry, transport, commerce, social conditions, culture, politics, and history. Particularly notable are specialized treatments of glacial development, soils, river ice, settlement patterns, agricultural change, and regional diversity, supported by Sweden’s advanced research and long-running national statistics. Although the projection is insufficiently documented and the work is expensive, its accessible presentation, flexible loose-sheet format, broad subject matter, and original problem-oriented cartography make it valuable to both specialists and general readers. The article concludes that, even in its incomplete state, the atlas already ranks among the leading national atlases and promises to strengthen international understanding of Sweden’s geography.

Book reviews: Atlas of Sweden

H. Waldbaur · 1955

H. Waldbaur provisionally reviews Atlas över Sverige, issued from 1953 by the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, on the basis of fifteen plates in five instalments. He credits collaboration among state funding, foundations, public and scientific institutions, and scholars. The planned atlas comprises 75 plates in 14 groups, chiefly at 1:2 million, with Swedish and English titles and legends and illustrated explanatory texts. Relatively stable phenomena are to appear first so that rapidly changing subjects can remain current at completion. The published plates cover geology, climate, population, and agriculture; methods include dots for dispersed population, area-proportional squares for population centres, and area and dot mapping for agriculture. Topographic bases are adapted to each theme and scale. Waldbaur praises the thematic richness, depiction of relationships, detailed drawing, colours, and printing, and expects the explanatory text to develop into a regional geographical handbook.

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