HEDIN, Sven (1865-1952). Central Asia Atlas. Memoir on Maps. Stockholm: The Sven Hedin Foundation for the Statens Etnografiska Museum,
5 volumes, 4to. Numerous maps, plates, figures and tables (a few color-printed, many folding). Publisher's printed tan wrappers; Vol. II in original cloth.FIRST EDITIONS. Comprising volumes 1-5 in the Geography section of the Reports from the Scientific Expedition to the North-Western Provinces of China under the Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin, publications nos. 47-50 and 54. In 1938 Hedin proposed to Dr. Justus Perthes at Gotha, the construction and publication of a map of Central Asia to the scale of 1:1,000,000 according to the rules outlined by the Commission of the International Map of the World of the 10th International Geographical Congress of 1913. All cartographical material available from Central Asia and Tibet was to be used. Work was begun in Gotha in 1939, but the war and the collapse of Germany in 1945 ended it. The project was restarted after the war when the Army Map Service, Washington, D.C., offered to "realize the project in a modified form." The scope of the atlas was to be reduced to comprise mainly Central Asia proper and the northern parts of the Tibetan highland north of lat. 32 deg. N. Although the idea for the atlas was conceived by Hedin, the work was carried out principally by Norin, who died in 1982, having practically completed his task. Yakushi (1994) H206.
