National atlases: sources, bibliography, articles

Summary

This bibliographic compilation aims to systematically organize national atlases and related research literature, serving as a foundational reference for geographic and cartographic studies. Based on the collections and periodicals of the Library of the Institute of Geography in Warsaw, the authors assembled literature on national atlas issues from 1900 to 1959, appending critical reviews as footnotes under corresponding atlas titles. During the compilation process, multiple challenges arose concerning type classification, content selection, and value assessment. First, following criteria proposed by scholars such as S. Leszczycki, K. A. Saliszczew, and O. Tulippe, the authors strictly distinguished pure national atlases from related types: of the 130 atlases covered, only 40 corresponded to the criteria for national atlases, while the rest, sharing certain features with national atlases, could in a way serve as substitutes; these were also included to enhance the bibliography’s practicality. Second, regarding scope, atlases covering continents, parts of continents, or multiple countries, as well as regional atlases of parts of a given country, were excluded; however, atlases of small territories with political independence (e.g., Gdańsk) were retained. For large federal states such as the USSR, USA, Australia, Canada, Brazil, India, and China, atlases of first-rank administrative-political units were qualified as national atlases and included; for smaller federal states like Switzerland and Austria, regional atlases were excluded due to limited area. Third, concerning content, a "national" atlas had to include at least three different maps presenting geographical environment, population, and economy; consequently, all special atlases (e.g., physiographic, population, economic) and political-administrative atlases lacking special problem maps were excluded, as were older atlases published before 1900. Fourth, scientific value and purpose served as additional criteria: atlases published solely for propaganda or with low cartographic standards, created for special occasions like exhibitions or political events, were eliminated. Among school atlases, only those specifically prepared for higher secondary school classes in a given country were included, excluding general atlases even with special inserts. Despite the authors' efforts to apply these criteria objectively, the short preparation time and reliance solely on Polish sources may have introduced unintentional errors or gaps, causing disproportions in the number of "pseudonational" atlases across countries. The compilation concludes with an extensive reference list covering papers and reports on atlases from various countries, providing a valuable index for future research.