Historical Atlases in Contemporary Spain: an Exploration.

Abstract

Historical atlases are a good test of the development of a national historiography. The supremacy in this field moved from France to Germany in the 1870s, and to Britain after the 1980s. Meanwhile, advances in historical knowledge, printing technology and mass media led to several styles: classic, positivist, dynamic and current eclectic. Spanish historical cartography has been poor until recently. It reached a modest level during the liberal revolution, but it kept out the positivist renewal, except the token works by Juan de la Gloria Artero. The update did not come in until the 1940s, when dynamic mapping was introduced by Gonzalo Menéndez-Pidal, Julián San Valero and especially Jaume Vicens Vives, who also acted as publisher. After further delay during the last years of Franco’s dictatorship and democratic transition, the offer of historical atlases expanded and diversified in the 1990s.