La deuxième édition de l'Atlas de France

Summary

This article reports the presentation of the second edition of the Atlas de France to the Minister of National Education in March. The first edition (1931-1946) had won worldwide acclaim; however, France had changed and cartographic techniques had improved, so from 1946 onward a new edition was prepared, recently honoured by the Commission on National Atlases of the International Geographical Union. The atlas is presented as a collective enterprise, initiated by Robert Perret, with Emmanuel de Martonne and Albert Demangeon directing physical and human geography, and André Libault of the French Cartographic Society perfecting the cartographic techniques. Severe postwar financial obstacles were overcome thanks to Jean Majorelle and final CNRS support. The article emphasises that an atlas is necessarily a continuing creation.