Atlas Maior

Joan Blaeu's Atlas Maior, published in 1662, was described by Lloyd A Brown in The Story Of Maps as "in many respects the most beautiful geographical work ever published". It contained around 600 map plates, in multiple volumes, making it the most extensive world atlas ever produced. (Even today's most comprehensive atlases, such as The Times Atlas Of The World, contain fewer than 200 plates.)

Taschen has reprinted the 1665 Latin edition of the Atlas Maior, combining the original eleven volumes into a single folio (titled Atlas Maior Of 1665: The Greatest & Finest Atlas Ever Published). Blaeu's ornate Baroque engravings are beautifully reproduced, and introduced by Peter van der Krogt. He contributed to The History Of Cartography: Cartography In The European Renaissance Part II, which describes the Atlas Maior as "a fiercely coveted status symbol among wealthy patricians" - an extravagant collector's item, now available in a more accessible form thanks to Taschen's lavish reprint.

Nine Great Movies from Nine Decades

Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel, film critics for Time magazine, have compiled a list of nine greatest films by selecting one title from each decade, from the 1920s to the early 2000s. In chronological order, the nine films are: Metropolis from the 1920s, Dodsworth from the 1930s, Citizen Kane from the 1940s, Ikiru (生きる) from the 1950s, Persona from the 1960s, Chinatown from the 1970s, Decalogue (Dekalog) from the 1980s, Pulp Fiction from the 1990s, and Talk to Her (Hable con ella) from the 2000s.

(Decalogue is a series of ten films, so there are technically more than nine titles on the list.) Corliss and Schickel’s Nine Great Movies from Nine Decades appeared in the 30th May issue of Time (vol. 165, no. 22). Their full list of 100 titles was published online and reprinted in the Encyclopædia Britannica Almanac.

1001 MoviesYou Must See Before You Die

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Jay Schneider, is a collaboration between some of the most respected international film critics (including Kim Newman, Geoff Andrew, and Jonathan Rosenbaum), and it represents an outstanding canon of significant films. It was first published in 2003 (with Psycho on the cover). It was reprinted in 2004 (with the same cover), with only two changes: The Barbarian Invasions and Kill Bill I were added, and Adaptation and Far From Heaven were removed.

The new 2005 edition still has 1001 films, thus the new additions have resulted in an equal number of deletions. A handful of (mostly recent) films have been replaced, including, unfortunately, Eyes Wide Shut and Tetsuo. The new entries are all recent, too, including Hero, Oldboy, The Passion Of The Christ, and The Lord Of The Rings.

My Favourite Film

No, not my favourite film. My Favourite Film, an ABC TV show, was broadcast yesterday in Australia. The programme revealed the results of an Australian public survey to find the nation's favourite films, as follows:

1. The Lord Of The Rings I-III
2. Amelie
3. Blade Runner
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. Donnie Darko
6. Star Wars IV: A New Hope
7. Pulp Fiction
8. The Princess Bride
9. Gone With The Wind
10. Fight Club

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy is considered as one entry, so the list has thirteen films instead of ten.