Journal Article

New atlases

De nouveaux atlas

By Bernard Rouleau· 1969

Publication: Annales de Géographie
Volume: 428
Pages: 474-476

Spain · Version 2

1969–2010

Bernard Rouleau reviews Atlas Nacional de España, dated 1965 in his bibliography, as a combined topographic and thematic atlas housed in a cardboard case intended for about 100 sheets, including 25 topographic sheets at various scales covering Spain and its African provinces. Two bound companions provide general geographical information and a 176-page place-name index. Rouleau finds the presentation careful but neither original nor modern, and considers some subjects ill-suited to such large sheets. He draws particular attention to the stratigraphic, hydrological and land-use plates, noting that thematic plates carry explanatory texts, often substantial, on their reverse sides.

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This article reviews seven atlases published in the 1960s, covering regional comprehensive atlases, national thematic atlases, and methodological works on statistical cartography. It analyzes in turn the content structure, cartographic techniques, and design characteristics of each work, including the Atlas of North Carolina, the Atlas Nacional de España, Roberto Bachi's Graphical Rational Patterns system, the demographic fascicle of the Atlas économique et social pour l'Aménagement du Territoire, the Atlas National de Hongrie, the Atlas of the Pacific Northwest Resources and Development, and the Atlas of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The author acknowledges the achievements of these atlases in terms of documentary richness, thematic diversity, and cartographic expressiveness, while also pointing out limitations in format innovation, scale selection, and visual presentation. The review reflects a deep consideration of atlases as tools for regional synthesis and statistical visualization.