Phillip Allen

This book is truly an atlas of atlases, tracing the history of atlases from the 1482 Ptolemy to the imperial The Times Atlas of 1897. These include greats like Mercator, Ortelius, and the like. Since these are the atlases from Birmingham Central Library (in Britain), some of the copies are substandard. The colors of Blaeu's Atlas Maior, for instance, are pale and devoid of life. There is no copy of Vincenzo Coronelli's important atlases. Though the photographs are grand and generally beautiful, the text and captions by Phillip Allen are nothing less than horrible. Aside from being sluggishly written, there are incomplete sentences, awkward phrases, and even some outright errors. Still, the book accomplishes its goal, a pictorial reference to the greatest atlases since the printing press was created; and with a good magnifying glass can provide hours of intellectual entertainment. (This is the hardcover edition under a different title.)… (altro)

This book is truly an atlas of atlases, tracing the history of atlases from the 1482 Ptolemy to the imperial The Times Atlas of 1897. These include greats like Mercator, Ortelius, and the like. Since these are the atlases from Birmingham Central Library (in Britain), some of the copies are substandard. The colors of Blaeu's Atlas Maior, for instance, are pale and devoid of life. There is no copy of Vincenzo Coronelli's important atlases. Though the photographs are grand and generally beautiful, the text and captions by Phillip Allen are nothing less than horrible. Aside from being sluggishly written, there are incomplete sentences, awkward phrases, and even some outright errors. Still, the book accomplishes its goal, a pictorial reference to the greatest atlases since the printing press was created; and with a good magnifying glass can provide hours of intellectual entertainment.… (altro)