ABSTRACT
Appraisal of this new major classical atlas (2007), intended for use with a German encyclopedia of antiquity and its reception, invites reflection on how satisfyingly the major dilemmas facing all makers of historical atlases are addressed in this instance by the team responsible (see further items 1 and 11). Because of the team’s prior involvement with the Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (see item 7), its influence is unmistakable throughout. Certain maps are models of clear, informative presentation, but others are confusingly overloaded, or their frame or scale is misjudged. Multiple opportunities to provide cartographic enhancement for the encyclopedia’s entries on locations, features and themes of all kinds are missed; by the same token, the integration of maps with their accompanying texts falls short. The potential of digital mapping is also never realized. Altogether there is a cautionary tale here for atlas-makers.
