Atlant

The Slovenian Society was established in 1864 and began its map-publishing activity with the well-known Zemljevid slovenske dežele in pokrajin (Map of Slovenia and Its Regions) produced by Peter Kozler in 1853. In 1868, it decided to publish the first Slovenian atlas and entrusted the editorial work to Matej Cigale. By 1877, 18 sheets of Atlant (Atlas) were published, comprising maps of individual continents using various scales and printed using lithography by Friedrich Köke in Vienna. This was the first world atlas printed in Slovenian. Because this publication nearly passed into oblivion over time, the sixtieth anniversary of the Anton Melik Geographical Institute was used to publish a facsimile of the atlas and an accompanying book. The book presented seven studies focusing on atlases and maps, political and social conditions in the second half of the nineteenth century, the background of the production of Atlant, the life and work of Matej Cigale, the Atlant maps in terms of cartography and onomastics, and responses to its publication and its status in Slovenian geographical literature. In addition, a complete index of names with more than 30,000 units was prepared; many of these were written in Slovenian for the first time. The accompanying book, which was published in an attractive case together with the map facsimiles, also contains black-and-white map prints with inserted coordinates to make it easier to locate the features portrayed. Upon the publication of Atlant, an exhibition was also staged at the institute’s Geographical Museum.


Avstralija. (figure in high resolution)


Avstrija. (figure in high resolution)