Adaptations of foreign geographical atlases from before 1989 published for the Polish users

The adaptations of foreign cartographical works are the constant publishing practices. The subject matters of these studies are the adaptations of foreign geographical atlases, prepared for the Polish users before 1989.

This article attempts to prove the thesis, that the activities of authors and publishers measured by a number and degree of adjustment of the above mentioned adaptations to the needs of the Polish customers in the scope of Polish adaptations of foreign geographical atlases are dependent on the external circumstances, mainly, on the political and socio-economic ones. The aims of these research studies are brought to determine a scope of changes adapting the foreign atlases to the Polish users in the context of the workshop of cartographer and to compare these kinds of publishing activity in the respective periods. The results of these works confirmed the thesis, which was put at the beginning, that the activities of authors and publishers in the field of adaptation depend on the external circumstances. It is clear from the analysis of the examined adaptations, that the greatest activity in this scope is characterised by two periods: the period of partitions of Poland and the next period of activity after the year 1989.

Referring to the kinds of adaptations, which were proposed in the article written by B. Konopska and J. Pasławski (2015), it is necessary to mention, that the main principles of the compilations of adaptations in the earlier periods were just the same as we have today. All the atlases can be divided into the basic adaptations and complex ones. Using the reviews and overviews of the adaptations written at the time, when they were issued, we can also say, that the geographical names were and now are the biggest problems for the authors.