An Atlas of Fantasy

An Atlas of Fantasy

Cover, revised edition
Author	J. B. Post
Illustrator	various
Language	English
Subject	Fictional locations
Genre	Fiction, Atlas
Publisher	Ballantine Books
Publication date	1979
Publication place	United States
Media type	print
Pages	210
ISBN	0-345-27399-0
OCLC	5149068
Dewey Decimal	912/.1/398
LC Class	G3122 .P6 1979

An Atlas of Fantasy, compiled by Jeremiah Benjamin Post, was originally published in 1973 by Mirage Press and revised for a 1979 edition by Ballantine Books. The 1979 edition dropped twelve maps from the first edition and added fourteen new ones. It also included an introduction by Lester del Rey.

To remain of manageable size, the Atlas excludes advertising maps, cartograms, most disproportionate maps, and alternate history ("might have been") maps, focusing instead on imaginary lands derived from literary sources. It purposefully omits "one-to-one" maps such as Thomas Hardy's Wessex (which merely renames places in southwest England), but includes Barsetshire and Yoknapatawpha County, which are evidently considered to be sufficiently fictionalized. The emphasis is on science fiction and fantasy, though Post suggests there exist enough mystery fiction maps to someday create The Detectives' Handy Pocket Atlas. Other maps were omitted due to permission costs or reproduction quality.

The maps are reproduced from many sources, and an Index of Artists is included.

Reception

Stephen L. Lortz reviewed An Atlas of Fantasy for Different Worlds magazine and stated that "An Atlas of Fantasy has provided me with many hours of entertainment as well as a number of inspirations for my FRP campaign, and in my opinion, belongs on the reference shelf of every Game Master and fantasist."^[1]

Reviews

• Review by William P. Hall Jr. (1974) in Cross Plains V1n4, July-August 1974^[2]
• Review by Stuart David Schiff (1974) in Whispers #4, July 1974
• Review by Greg Bear (1974) in Luna Monthly, #56, November 1974
• Review by uncredited (1975) in Amra V2n63, April 1975
• Review by David L. Greene (1975) in The Baum Bugle, Spring 1975
• Review by Richard Mathews (1979) in Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Review, July 1979
• Review by Lewis Pulsipher (1983) in Dragon Magazine, April 1983

See also

• The Dictionary of Imaginary Places
• Literary Wonderlands

References

1. Lortz, Stephen L. (August–September 1980). "Book Reviews". Different Worlds (9): 37.
2. "Title: An Atlas of Fantasy".

• Austin, Susan (1979). "An Atlas of Fantasy (review)". Children's Literature Association Quarterly. 4 (3): 14–15. doi:10.1353/chq.0.1368.
• Lerner, F. (1980). "Book review". Voice of Youth Advocates. 3 (3): 51.
• Post, J.B. (1979). An Atlas of Fantasy. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-27399-0.