Charles B. Hitchcock · 1966
American Geographical Society director Charles B. Hitchcock recounts the planning and early production of the Antarctic Map Folio Series, supported financially and advised by the National Science Foundation. An atlas proposal made in 1958 led to questionnaires circulated in 1959–1960, which received 178 responses. Intended for scientists and students seriously interested in Antarctica, the project adopted separately issued, single-subject folios so that completed material could be published without waiting for a bound atlas. The Society received the production contract in November 1962 and appointed Vivian Bushnell executive editor. Hitchcock describes her use of a classified file of some 3,000 scientific reports from 1957–1963, research-program lists, and consultations with scientists to plan the contents. Specialist advisers and international contributors assisted with individual subjects. Coverage and presentation varied with the evidence: flowering-plant maps would show every known locality, while lichen maps would illustrate selected distribution patterns; sparse marine-invertebrate records required contributors to assess what could meaningfully be mapped. At the time of writing, the aeronomy, ice-sheet characteristics, and maps-and-surveys folios had appeared. Hitchcock outlined a series covering 17 subjects, sometimes with two folios per subject, and reported further cartographic work in progress. Publication order initially depended on when authors completed their material.
Vivian C. Bushnell · 1967
Vivian C. Bushnell reports on the Antarctic Map Folio Series, whose preparation began in 1962: eight of the eighteen planned folios had appeared or were expected by the end of 1967. The article describes Folios 4–8, with Folios 7 and 8 still in press. For the two atmospheric folios, the National Weather Records Center compiled the plates and W. S. Weyant wrote the text. Folio 4 maps seasonal thermal conditions, circulation, and tropopause heights, with graphs of humidity and tropopause conditions. Folio 5 combines maps of recorded plant and land-arthropod occurrences, color photographs, and discussion of environments and geographical distributions. Arnold L. Gordon’s Folio 6 presents fourteen plates on water structure between 20°W and 170°W, including temperature, oxygen, and salinity core layers, dynamic topography, and the Polar Front Zone. John Mercer’s Folio 7 summarizes available information on glaciers of Antarctic oceanic islands and mountains through maps, text, and tables. Folio 8 presents temperature, cloud, cyclone-track, and wind maps and graphs, including records of days with blowing snow.
Unknown · 1981
The notice describes the Antarctic Map Folio Series as 19 folios, each with text, extensive references, color maps, and drawings in an 11-by-17-inch case. Subjects include atmospheric climatology, terrestrial life, glaciers, Antarctic waters, marine invertebrates, birds, and mammals. It reports that remaining stocks were transferred from the American Geographical Society to the National Science Foundation in June 1980 for sale at greatly reduced prices. Some folios were already out of print, and limited stocks were to be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. No reprinting was planned; microform copies through the National Technical Information Service were being considered.
