Geographical atlases by Zagreb publishers, On the occasion of the publication of the Great geographical atlas of Yugoslavia

Within their survey of Zagreb atlas publishing, Dušanka Canković and Paško Lovrić compare Geografski atlas Jugoslavije, edited by Petar Mardešić and Zvonimir Dugački and first published by Znanje in 1961, with Liber’s 1987 Veliki geografski atlas Jugoslavije, edited by Ivan Bertić. They regard both as comprehensive atlases serving general education, and identify the Znanje atlas as a predecessor of Liber’s. Their comparison records 101 maps in the former and 56 in the latter, with maps occupying respectively 50% and 20% of pages excluding indexes. They criticize both for relying mainly on statistical thematic maps and including few maps based on original scientific research; in their assessment, the intended national atlas of Yugoslavia remained unrealized. For the Liber atlas, they particularly praise the updated 1:500,000 topographic map, arranged in 14 regional sheets, and the new base maps of Yugoslavia, Europe and the world. Population mapping receives the fullest coverage, while tourism has only one map. The reviewers judge the cartographic preparation highly, but note some loss of quality in printing. They also commend its 43 graphic models for conveying information clearly.