The “Atlas of France”

Summary

The article describes the French Comité National de Géographie’s production of the Atlas de France, reviving Delaunay’s 1871 national-atlas proposal. Favorable reception of a sample installment at the 1931 International Geographical Congress in Paris secured government funding. The plan calls for eighty sheets, issued in four annual installments of four sheets over five years: twenty-five devoted to physical geography, eight to biogeography, thirty-one to economic geography, and sixteen to human and political geography. Four large maps at 1:1,250,000 are planned; relief and bathymetry and municipal population density have appeared, while vegetation and chorography remain in preparation. Most sheets combine national thematic maps with larger-scale local maps or diagrams. Examples include Bénévent’s temperature maps, thermal profiles and phenological indicators; mineral-resource maps showing concession areas with enlarged coal and iron basin maps; and metallurgical-industry maps representing industrial importance by worker numbers and locating specialized production centers. The author particularly praises the originality of the temperature mapping. The completed atlas is expected to contain at least 400 maps, excluding diagrams. Despite high production costs, the author reports a price affordable to public and private libraries and anticipates a strong response abroad to the early installments.