Abstrakt
The contribution counted from last public lecture of Czech Univ. Prof.
Karel Kuchař named Aesthetics of Map Production. Unfortunately, Prof.
Kuchař was not able to elaborate the issue of aesthetic aspects of cartographic production in further detail. The aim of this contribution is to categorize and summarize this knowledge.
The first part mentions the traditional, and we can also say never-ending, discussion on cartography and early maps being a form of art. It is followed by a summary of aesthetic aspects of (not only) early maps (map format, sheet composition, use of space, shapes of map fields and structure of outlines, form of compositional elements, map contents, cartographic language, thematic cartography methods, use of colour and font in maps, author's style and handwriting).
Finally, several pieces of evidence are offered confirming that "early maps" and "computer map production" are not incompatible.