National Atlas of Guatemala
Atlas Nacional de Guatemala
Guatemala · Ministerio de Comunicaciones y Obras · 1972
Related Reviews & Articles
Book review: Atlas Nacional De Guatemala
Anderson, Paul S. · 1976
This text is a collection of book reviews originally published in a cartography and geography journal. It critically assesses four distinct works. The first review examines the Atlas Nacional de Guatemala (1972), commending its cartographic excellence, appropriate scales, and high-quality photographs, while noting that the accompanying text could be expanded on social and industrial themes and would benefit from measurement conversions for unfamiliar readers. The second review discusses Make Me a Map of the Valley: The Civil War Journal of Stonewall Jackson’s Topographer, edited by A. P. McDonald. The journal of Jedediah Hotchkiss provides a rare grassroots primary-source account of the American Civil War and the life of a map maker for Confederate generals; however, its daily repetitions and trivial details may prove tedious for non-specialists. The third review evaluates Die Grossen Kalten Berge Von Szetschuan by Eduard Imhof, a richly illustrated account of a 1930s expedition to the Minya Konka Range that combines landscape painting, field-survey methods, and Swiss cartographic tradition to fill a blank spot on world maps. The final, briefer review covers Automatic Interpretation and Classification of Images, a 1969 lecture collection whose interdisciplinary approach to digital image processing retains significance for computer cartography despite its delayed availability. Collectively, the reviews highlight intersections of cartography with history, art, exploration, and computation, and serve as guidance on each publication’s scholarly value.
Atlas & Book Reviews: National Atlas of Guatemala
Thatcher, Edward P. · 1974
This review article evaluates two major reference publications: the *Atlas Nacional de Guatemala* (1972) and the four-volume *Gazetteers of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria* (reprint edition, 1972). Through descriptive and critical analysis, the author assesses the cartographic quality, content organization, and scholarly utility of each work. The Guatemalan atlas is praised as a superior cartographic achievement, distinguished by its appealing format, carefully chosen color photographs, and clear, well-designed symbols. Notable high points include a striking plate on internal migration and effective physical, human, and economic resource sections. However, the reviewer identifies several shortcomings: frequent absence of representative fraction or linear scales on map plates, lack of a political organization section, inconsistent lettering sizes, omission of department boundaries, and an overabundance of lifeless gray photographs that detract from the overall quality. Despite these flaws, the atlas remains a valuable visual introduction to Guatemala, compensating readers’ language limitations with universal graphic clarity. The Nigerian gazetteers are presented as far more than simple tables; they are administrative handbooks compiled between the arrival of the British and the 1930s, containing rich demographic, ethnologic, and economic records. Volumes on the Hausa emirates and the pagan groups of the Plateau Province are especially commended for their historical depth. A major weakness is the insufficient number of maps. The reviewer concludes that both works, despite minor correctable faults, are essential acquisitions for scholarly libraries, particularly those with Latin American or African collections. The atlas compensates for its textual limitations with exceptional visual communication, while the gazetteers offer unique primary-source documentation for historical research.
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