Bibliography: Atlas of Finland

W. Rosier reviews the Geographical Society of Finland’s 1899 Atlas de Finlande and its explanatory volume, Fennia 17. Favorable reception of the Society’s maps and charts at the 1895 London geographical congress prompted compilation of the atlas, with Finnish scholars, an editorial committee chaired by E.-D. Neovius, and a government subsidy of 43,000 francs. Its 33 plates combine maps and statistical graphics covering relief, geology, climate, vegetation, population, economic activity, prehistoric finds, and administration, and conclude with reproductions of maps by Olaus Magnus and Andreas Bureus. Rosier praises its cartographic and statistical techniques, explains its elevation tints and contours, and notes uncertainty in the geology of northern Finland. He highlights the population diagrams’ basis in regular censuses dating from 1750. The detailed specialist commentary appeared in Finnish, Swedish, and French; Rosier particularly commends Sederholm’s treatment of hypsometry and geology. He regards the atlas and text as a substantial geographical account and a tribute to Finland’s scientific and cultural achievements, arguing for international moral support for Finnish institutions and traditions under threat from the Russian Empire.