ABSTRACT
The collection Atlas historique des villes de France was begun by Philippe Wolff and Charles Higounet, in accordance with the wishes of the International Commission for the History of Towns and following the work already undertaken in England and in Germany. Thematic uniformity came first: historical and urban uniformity for each geographical space, in this case limited to France but which is essential for a European-scale project. Reflecting the scientific excitement due to discoveries, the atlas differs from other more specialized products by virtue of its aim to be synthetic and of its long-term perspective. The planimetric basis of the atlas, which was called for the sake of convenience 'the 1850–55 map', is in fact a composite one—a database built up by assembling together the first three plot-pattern and cadastral maps. An atlas of contemporary Bordeaux ought actually to be made. Conceived as an assessment of the present situation, the Atlas historique de Bordeaux is also revisionist in essence.
