Interesting pictorial atlas published in Italy by Information division of the E.R.P mission on behalf of U.S. Special mission to Italy in January 1951. The atlas was apparently published to inform the readers about the financial and material support provided by the United states to Italy, which was torn and devastated by the Second World War. The foreword speaks to an Italian youth, and was written by "Jack" - an imaginary person representing an American soldier who helped liberating Italy from fascism rule during the Second World War.
The atlas consists of one overview map of Italy, showing borders of its regions and their coats of arms, 19 pictorial maps of individual Italian regions and two special maps portraying Italy in 1945, devastated by the World War 2 and 5 years later in 1950, showing progress made with the help of funding by US. These special maps, as well as the illustration on the cover, bare names of Allulli Crea, A. Tappa and R. Milani. Other main maps of the regions were designed by Vsevolode Nicouline (naturalised Italian born in Russia) and were basically downsized versions of maps published in Imago Italiae in 1941.
The regional maps are filled with various pictorial elements portraying principal cities with their landmarks, most important tourist attractions, industrial plants and commodities, agriculture products, natural features, wildlife, local people in typical situations and clothing as well as many important historical events which are usually dated. Each map is provided with a decorative cartouche, wind rose, measurement scale, and is further decorated with plenty of illustrations of ships, mythical animals and people and other region specific symbols.
Each of the 19 regional maps is accompanied by one page of text describing the region in general, it's brief history, principal cities in the region and it's local specifics of economy.
