<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Within the currently solved project of Czech Historical Atlas, an extensive analytic research of existing historical atlases was conducted with the aim of creating a large database of Czech (Czechoslovak) and foreign historical atlases released after 1950. During the analysis, the team collected information about more than 400 items. Beside the standard bibliographic description (title, author, country of origin, language, availability in the library, etc.), the database contains additional detail information on the content of the atlases, such as a chronological or spatial determination of the maps or applied methods of thematic cartography, that cannot be found in any library catalogue. The database is published as a complementary web application to Czech Historical Atlas web portal. Besides the large amount of collected information, the database of historical atlases in the form of an interactive web application provides a user-friendly visual analytic platform that enables the user to analyse information about historical atlases easily and effectively across fully interactive dashboards. The database can be used not only by academics in the field of historical and atlas cartography but also by broad public interested in this topic. The web application exists in Czech and English version to meet both, Czech and international public.</p>

No abstract

A large database of more than 400 existing historical atlases released after 1950 was created as a result of an extensive analytic research within the preparation of cartographic works on the Czech Historical Atlas. The database was published in the form of a web application that allows the user to reveal and analyse associated information about historical atlases across interactive dashboards. To improve the information value of the database, the authors decided to arrange further possibilities of data excerption with the use of specialized data visualization methods that may reveal additional information and new phenomena which are not clearly visible from the database itself. The performed analyses supplement the paper in the form of diagrams and charts and present the data from various perspectives with the focus on similarities and differences between the cartographic and the thematic content of the historical atlases in the publishing countries, the changes in the thematic focus of the atlases or changes in the use of methods of thematic cartography in atlas works over time. The authors also deal with relations between the thematic focus of the atlas and the applied methods of thematic cartography. All analyses are performed on the sample of 88 atlas works.Historical atlases and their characteristics were selected according to the methodology concept devised by Bláha and Močičková [3]. On the basis of two criteria defining the time and geographical delimitation of historical atlases for the study, two students of the Czech Technical University in Prague collected information about selected Czech (Czechoslovak) and foreign historical atlases released after 1950. During the first phase, the students searched for the standard bibliographic description (title, author, publisher, country of origin, language, etc.) of more than 400 atlases in electronic catalogues of Czech and foreign libraries. In addition, each item was provided with information on the focus category of the atlas (e.g. politics, demography, military issues) and with a list of libraries in which the atlas is physically stored. Due to the geographical delimitation of the studied atlas works, the database consists mainly of the atlases of Czech (106) and German production (97), followed by the atlases from France (65) and the United Kingdom (47), which account for more than three quarters of the database.

The article introduces the Czech historiographical work called the Czech Historical Atlas and presents its analysis in terms of its concept, structure, and technical layout. The primary focus is on the atlas content and its subdivision into thematic and logical sections or the semiological structure of the used space. Last but not least, the cartographic and technical aspects of the atlas format are also analysed, including, for example, the analysis of used scales or cartographic projections. The findings are presented through a series of visuals and interpreted in the context of the thematic concept of the atlas. The authors’ aim is to present the currently not much addressed structural analysis of a cartographic atlas, which allows revealing the potential for the innovation of an original cartographic work.

No abstract