Cartographic Relief Presentation

Summary

The supplied material comprises the preface, introduction, and closing index of Eduard Imhof’s Cartographic Relief Presentation, published in English in 1982 after the German edition of 1965. Imhof presents relief depiction as a foundation of topographic maps and many thematic maps, attributing shortcomings in its practice to demanding artistic and drafting skills, economic constraints, and inadequate specialist instruction and textbooks. Addressed primarily to map designers and related professionals, the book aims to improve map reliability, readability, and comprehensibility through guidance and extensive illustrations applicable to different map types, scales, and traditional or electronic production. The English edition adds guidance on electronic and computer-assisted relief depiction; Imhof stresses that production technology should serve decisions about map content and representational quality. The introduction praises the synthesis of more than half a century of Imhof’s thought and experience, notes that examples largely concern Switzerland, and recounts the successive translation and editing efforts and difficulties of matching German and English terminology. The closing index lists topics including shading, slopes, spot heights, soundings, terrain models, tinting, symbols, and generalization. The visible excerpts do not provide the detailed treatment of these topics or the book’s overall conclusions.