Atlanti stranieri di recente pubblicazione

Summary

This article offers a systematic critical review of twenty-one foreign atlases published between 1960 and 1963. The works considered include national atlases, general reference atlases, school atlases intended especially for secondary and advanced instruction, a pocket economic atlas, and a historical atlas. For each publication, the author examines its organization, thematic coverage, source materials, choice of scales, cartographic conventions, technical execution, readability, and educational usefulness, while identifying both innovations and deficiencies. Particular attention is first given to national atlases of Finland, South Africa, Austria, Turkey, and Soviet Armenia. The fourth edition of the Atlas of Finland is judged especially successful: although the number of plates increases only slightly, the number of maps rises substantially, and major sections on population, agriculture, livestock, forestry, industry, communications, and historical geography are thoroughly revised or newly created. Its balanced conception, scholarly rigor, and high technical quality place it among the finest works of its kind. The South African atlas contains abundant statistical and thematic information, with especially extensive treatment of population and agriculture and strong geological and vegetation maps. Nevertheless, its sections are markedly disproportionate, its widespread use of black-and-white statistical mapping sometimes impairs clarity, and its climatic, hydrological, geophysical, and synthetic economic coverage is inadequate. The Austrian atlas, by contrast, demonstrates considerable scholarly value through detailed geological and climatic maps and through its treatment of settlement, dialects, land use, industry, and transportation. The review then considers several world and school atlases, assessing the distribution of attention among continents, the effectiveness of relief representation, and the legibility of colors, symbols, thematic maps, diagrams, aerial photographs, and landscape illustrations. A Japanese atlas for teaching social studies in middle schools receives particular praise for its exceptionally rich portrayal of Japan and Asia through physical, political, economic, human, and historical maps. Its refined linework, delicate polychromy, and carefully chosen symbols allow even very small thematic maps to remain informative, although pale contours and altitude tints weaken the plastic effect of relief. The concluding discussion addresses a Gotha pocket economic atlas and the revised Putzger Historical World Atlas. The former successfully combines land use, livestock raising, fishing, mining, industry, and transportation, but becomes visually demanding in economically complex regions. The latter incorporates recent historical research, new pedagogical approaches, and advances in cartography, giving greater prominence to cultural history, settlement, and economic life. While many useful maps have been added, the removal of several valuable prehistoric and ancient maps is criticized. Overall, the article documents important advances in early-1960s atlas production while emphasizing recurring problems such as thematic imbalance, excessive reliance on statistical representation, uneven regional coverage, insufficient synthesis, and reduced visual clarity.