Introduction to Foreign Atlas: "Natural Economic Atlas of Italy"

Summary

This review evaluates the 1940 Atlante Fisico-Economico d'Italia, focusing on its composition and cartographic methods. The atlas contains over 500 pages, with physical maps occupying about a quarter; relief, geological, temperature, and precipitation maps are detailed, and the glacier map of the Alps is particularly well executed. Population and economic maps account for the majority, using graded ratio and regional diagram techniques. However, industrial maps fail to show the configuration and scale of industries, and some isopleths are inappropriately applied to non-continuous distributions. Overall, the atlas is richly informative and finely printed, reflecting both its value and contemporary limitations.