Book reviews: Atlas of Switzerland

Summary

W. Witt reviews the first installment of the Atlas of Switzerland, published in 1965 with eleven double-page plates. Directed by E. Imhof, the national atlas was planned to comprise 86 plates in twelve sections. The review describes its removable-sheet format, German–French–Italian explanatory texts, and map scales, and examines representations of topography, geophysics, climate, population, employment structure, farm buildings, crop cultivation, and forestry. Witt praises the clarity and aesthetic quality of the topographic reference map and the combination of relief backgrounds with thematic and statistical symbols. He also considers the pictorial treatment of farm buildings possibly overemphasized and identifies problematic color and symbol choices in some agricultural mapping. The published plates emphasize thematic analysis; synthesis was planned through natural-region and cultural-landscape classifications and spatial-planning applications. Witt anticipates that the completed atlas will offer exemplary thematic atlas mapping in both content and presentation, and strongly commends its cartographic, reproduction, and printing quality.