CSSLibraryGuides: Atlases in the CSS Library Reference Collection: Atlases in the CSS Library

The Creation

"Inside map making factory." Engraving from Orbis Terrarum, by Braun and Hogenberg. 1700. Image from Art Museum Image Gallery.

Todd White

Contact:

twhite@css.edu

218-723-6473

Welcome

Atlases are collections of maps, but also, a whole lot more.

Yes, there are still traditional atlases which focus on geography, but many of the atlases listed in this guide are interpretive. The use the concept of the map to show relationships - How much fresh water is in the world, and who has access to it? How has religious belief changed over the last century? How has China's economy grown over the last decade?

This interpretive aspect of atlases needs a basis in facts, or statistics. So, while we think of atlases as maps, we don't think of this other feature. They are a great source for statistics, especially as seen over a period of time.

Also, as part of the "map" function of atlases, they are a form of visual information. So, if you need to jazz up your presentation, don't forget the great visual impact that the information in atlases can provide.

Please feel free to use my contact information in the right-hand column if you have questions.

Todd White
CSS Reference Librarian

New book of interest

The History of Cartography by Matthew H. Edney; & Mary Sponberg Pedley, eds.
Call Number: Ref. GA201 .H53 1987
Publication Date: 2020-05-18
Since its launch in 1987, the History of Cartography series has garnered critical acclaim and sparked a new generation of interdisciplinary scholarship. Cartography in the European Enlightenment, the highly anticipated fourth volume, offers a comprehensive overview of the cartographic practices of Europeans, Russians, and the Ottomans, both at home and in overseas territories, from 1650 to 1800. The social and intellectual changes that swept Enlightenment Europe also transformed many of its mapmaking practices. A new emphasis on geometric principles gave rise to improved tools for measuring and mapping the world, even as large-scale cartographic projects became possible under the aegis of powerful states. Yet older mapping practices persisted: Enlightenment cartography encompassed a wide variety of processes for making, circulating, and using maps of different types. The volume's more than four hundred encyclopedic articles explore the era's mapping, covering topics both detailed--such as geodetic surveying, thematic mapping, and map collecting--and broad, such as women and cartography, cartography and the economy, and the art and design of maps. Copious bibliographical references and nearly one thousand full-color illustrations complement the detailed entries.