Poland波兰

Eugeniusz Romer

This article is a review of Eugeniusz Romer's "Geographical and Statistical Atlas of Poland," written during the First World War. At that time, Poland was still under partition, and the author sought to demonstrate through maps the former territorial unity of Poland, the extent of various historical influences, and the strength and value that a reunified Poland could represent. The atlas covers the historical Polish territory of 1772, with the inclusion of adjacent areas where the Polish population constituted a relatively high proportion; it comprises a total of 65 maps (32 plates), supplemented by additional maps and explanatory text, planned for publication in three volumes. The content addresses natural and historical-political conditions, the distribution of the Polish population, religion, education, spiritual culture, land ownership and use, and agriculture and livestock farming.

St. Pawtowsk

This review appraises Eugeniusz Romer's Geograficzno-statystyczny Atlas Polski (1916), placing it as the most important wartime publication on Poland. Pawłowski argues that the Atlas's scientific value rests on its enormous erudition, use of sources from the three partitioning powers, and above all on Romer's isarithmic method, borrowed from climatology. By replacing the conventional mosaic of administrative districts with continuous isolines, this method relates economic and social phenomena to natural morphology, freeing anthropogeography from statistical dogmatism. The Atlas, although popular-scientific in form, is anchored by references and is technically excellent: clear drawing, harmonious colors, and concise texts. It maps Poland within her 1772 borders together with historically Polish territories; Pawłowski defends this choice against critics and insists that historical and ethnographic claims make Poland's boundaries unambiguous. The map content is divided into three groups: strictly physiographic maps, maps with mixed physical and human content, and maps of demographic and cultural problems. Among striking findings are Poland's flat-land character, the cultural dominance in western Polish agriculture (the Prussian partition yields 2.5 times more than the fertile black soils of Podolia and Ukraine), dense population in the south, favorable Polish demographic dynamics compared with Germany, and Polish landownership and electoral strength in the eastern borderlands. The review concludes that Romer's Atlas combines outstanding scientific achievement with civic service: it presents in an accessible but rigorous form the geographical, demographic, economic, and historical evidence of Poland's right to the whole country.

Tadeusz Brzeski

"Geographical Issues of Poland" (Zagadnienie geograficzne Polski) is Tadeusz Brzeski's review of Professor Romer's "Atlas of Poland," focusing on its methodological foundations rather than mere public acclaim. The reviewer acknowledges that, as a public undertaking, the Atlas played a positive role during World War I by visually demonstrating the unity and territorial extent of the Polish question. However, as a scientific endeavor, it demands serious scrutiny. Brzeski argues that Romer's interpretation of Polish history is rooted in an extreme form of natural materialism—a variant of historical materialism that treats geographical and natural conditions as the ultimate determinants of historical and social development. This perspective is outdated and fails to grasp the complexity of historical causality, overlooking the roles of political institutions, social structures, and contingent historical events. The critique extends to the relationship between physical geography and human geography: physical geography can study causal connections in nature, but human geographical phenomena cannot be mechanically explained as inevitable outcomes of natural conditions. Brzeski concretely illustrates these shortcomings by analyzing the Atlas's statistical and cartographic methods. He exposes the misuse of graphic interpolation and the adoption of relative values based on unstable or inappropriate bases. For example, the potato cultivation map uses grain field area as the denominator, resulting in the highest indices appearing in the southeastern Carpathians and the Pripet Marshes—places where arable land is scarce, not because potato cultivation is actually significant, but because potatoes constitute a high proportion of the limited cultivated area. Similarly, the livestock map uses total population as the base without distinguishing between urban and industrial populations, so low livestock numbers may reflect high population density rather than actual deficiency. Brzeski points out that these methodological errors distort the geographical picture and lead to erroneous conclusions. He also notes that the Atlas frequently relies uncritically on existing statistical publications, and its attempts to rework industrial census data are among its least successful sections. Positive contributions are limited: the church organization map, some educational

Antoni Sujkowski

This article is an academic review by Antoni Sujkowski of the *Geographical and Statistical Atlas of Poland* (1916), edited by Eugeniusz Romer.

Max Friederichsen

This review examines Eugen von Romer's Geographisch-statistischer Atlas von Polen (1916–1917), a comprehensive cartographic work compiled with contributions from many specialists. The atlas primarily illustrates Poland's national, social, and economic conditions before World War I, with only brief treatment of physical geography. The reviewer critically notes that the atlas defines Poland far beyond historical Congress Poland, encompassing vast neighboring territories, thereby reflecting expansionist political aspirations that could intensify territorial demands. The maps use consistent scales (1:5 million for main maps, 1:15 million for insets) and innovative methods such as isolines to depict population density. While acknowledging the atlas's technical and methodological merits for comparative geographic study, the review cautions readers against its tendentious textual explanations.

R. F. Keindl

This review examines Romer's 'Geographisch-statistischer Atlas von Polen' (1916), noting that its 32 maps cover the entire territory of the former Polish Kingdom, which is inappropriate for a geographic-statistical atlas. The author criticizes the ethnographic maps as unreliable: in Galicia, the apparent rise in Polish population is attributed to Jews registering as Poles, while Ruthenians contest the data; in Prussia, Romer's demarcation is inaccurate. The maps also reveal extensive Jewish dispersion and high illiteracy rates among Poles and Ruthenians. The review concludes that while the atlas provides significant statistical material, its territorial scope and ethnographic accuracy require caution.

A. Gavazzi

This article contains two book reviews. The first reviews Romer's Geographico-statistical Atlas of Poland, second edition (1921): based on 1910 data and containing 34 maps covering topography, geology, climate, soil, population, religion, resources, and industry, printed by Freytag & Berndt in Vienna, with precise colors and fine technology; the reviewer considers it reliable and successful. The second reviews Lubosch's The Significance of Humanistic Education for the Natural Sciences (1920): the book emphasizes humanistic education's practical value in understanding scientific terminology and studying classical works, and further its theoretical value in preventing a one-sided scientific worldview.

Edward Maliszewski

Edward Maliszewski's review critically assesses Eugenjusz Romer's recent geographic publications, including the second edition of the Geograficzno-statystyczny atlas Polski and the census study of the former eastern borderlands. The author notes that while Poland's independence stimulated state-building, geography and regional research remained underdeveloped. Romer's atlas, though comprehensive, is criticized for relying on deliberately falsified statistics from the partitioning powers. The map of Polish population distribution (plate X) undercounts Poles in central Lithuania and contradicts the newly added plate XI, while the latter underestimates the Polish share in Eastern Galicia. Plate XV misinterprets Russian landownership data, leading to absurd percentages. The transport map omits all railways built after 1914, and forest maps are unclear. Moreover, numerous place names are distorted, both in the atlas and in the companion work, with the Central Statistical Office uncritically repeating the errors. Despite these shortcomings, the author acknowledges that the Polish Congress Atlas, also edited by Romer, provides useful and interesting material for public education. The review concludes that meticulous verification of statistics and toponyms is essential for such works.

Stanisław Pawłowski

This article consists of four bibliographic notes reviewing four Polish academic publications. It first evaluates the volume of Romanowski’s poetry edited by Lam, praising its introduction and selected lyrics. It then discusses the second edition of Romer’s Geostatistical Atlas of Poland, emphasizing the new maps, the replacement of German with English text, and the atlas’s didactic value. The third note reviews Sinko’s anthology of Ovid with selected elegies by Tibullus and Propertius, affirming its practical usefulness but noting that the illustrations are too few. Finally, it examines Morawski’s translation of Sophocles’ Electra, pointing out the insightful introduction and the quality of the translation. Overall, it offers critical assessments and recommendations for scholars and educators.

St. Pawtowski

This document comprises a brief note on intelligence testing of children in a model school using the Binet-Simon scale (29 children examined by January 1922), and a substantial review of the second edition of Eugeniusz Romer's *Atlas Polski* (Atlas of Poland). The reviewer praises the atlas as a monumental work integrating geography, statistics, and cartographic art. Its innovative method uses color to represent physical and human phenomena, achieving a synthetic picture of Poland's natural environment, population, economy, and culture. The atlas includes maps of topography, geology, climate, vegetation, historical/administrative divisions, demographic patterns, ethnic Polish settlements, religious structure, land ownership, agriculture, mining, industry, savings, and communications. It reveals important insights, such as the strength of Polish ethnicity in northeastern borderlands, the dominance of large estates, the high productivity of Prussian Poland due to advanced culture, and the deliberate neglect of transport infrastructure in former Kingdom of Poland. The review concludes that the atlas is an indispensable scientific and artistic achievement that corrects foreign misconceptions and supports Polish national claims. It is considered "probably the best key that has yet appeared to the understanding of the Polish problem" (Robert Lord).

St. Pawtowski

This article reviews two atlases of Poland edited by Eugeniusz Romer: the second edition of Geograficzno-statystyczny Atlas Polski (1921) and the first volume of Atlas Polski współczesnej (1923). It praises the innovative use of the isarithmic method to depict demographic and economic patterns and regards the atlases as a key to understanding the Polish question. The second edition added maps of administration and of Polish population distribution and replaced German explanations with English. The reviewer deems Weigner's geological map in the latter atlas the best of its kind, though it omits some features and its interpretation of Cretaceous strata may provoke debate.

Adam Schmuck

This article reviews the progress in geological mapping of Poland by comparing older and newer maps. It notes that earlier maps were overly generalized, with exaggerated frontal moraines, schematic river alluvia, and unclear lake shading. The new geological map is richer in content but less graphically successful, depicting bedrock relief with 50-m contours and revising the Neogene extent and the Tertiary–Cretaceous boundary in northeastern Poland. It also adds details on marine transgressions and Carpathian stratigraphy. The accompanying Tertiary basement map and gravity maps reveal major advances. The author urges rapid publication of the planned atlas in Polish with a larger print run, since geological knowledge is essential for understanding Poland's geography.

J. J. Klawe

This review introduces the provisional Atlas of Poland (1956), produced after WWII amid a wave of national atlases. The atlas was initiated in 1945 but its original plan was only partially fulfilled due to editorial changes, resulting in a four-folder collection of maps at 1:2M or smaller. The reviewer describes the contents: physical geography sheets covering soils, geology, geomorphology, climate, vegetation, zoogeography, and land use, plus an unusual phenological map based on plant blossoming times. Despite poor paper quality, the cartographic workmanship is satisfactory. The review concludes that this interim publication paved the way for a new comprehensive Polish atlas planned by the Institute of Geography, with larger format, 454 maps, and trilingual editions.

This paper reviews and introduces the geomorphological map of Poland (Mapa Geomorfologiczna Polski, 1:2,000,000) published by the Central Office of Geodesy and Cartography in Warsaw (1953–1956). The map classifies Polish landforms into 27 genetic types under two major categories—accumulation and erosion—and reveals a regional sequence of landform types and forms shaped by Scandinavian glaciations (Mindel, Riss, and Würm). It also describes Poland's application of detailed geomorphological maps at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 scales for national land surveys and economic planning, citing works by Kondraski and Klimaszewski on mapping principles and legends.

J. Rutkowski

This paper offers a historical review of Polish national atlases against the background of the latest project, the Atlas Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. It traces the development from early precursors such as Romer's geographical-statistical atlas (1916), through interwar statistical atlases, to later attempts that failed or were interrupted by censorship and data-access restrictions. The successful National Atlas of Poland, published in 1973–1978, was a comprehensive cartographic monograph comprising 127 plates, 634 maps, and 110 diagrams, and attracted broad public interest (46,000 subscriptions). Political and socioeconomic changes after 1989 eventually led to a new national atlas project, which is now about half completed. The account shows how national atlases both reflect and depend on political and institutional conditions.

Osowska Anna; Przybytek Dariusz

Published in Vienna in 1916, the *Geographical and Statistical Atlas of Poland* is a landmark work compiled by Eugeniusz Romer during World War I to reaffirm the Polish question to the world. At a time when Poland had been partitioned for over 120 years, the atlas covered the historical Polish territories within the 1772 borders and the region between the Baltic and Black Seas, systematically presenting physical geography, administrative divisions, history, population, ethnicity, religion, agriculture, industry, transportation, mineral resources, and cooperative savings through 65 maps, 5 diagrams, and 32 plates. The atlas was completed by Romer in collaboration with experts from various fields, including W. Semkowicz, and was based on official statistical data, with the population