Grand atlas du continent africain

Grand atlas du continent africain is a large-format French-language reference atlas published by Éditions Jeune Afrique in 1973. Prepared under the direction of French geographer Régine Van Chi-Bonnardel, it covers the continent’s geography, climate, population, history, and economy, followed by regional and country-by-country sections. The cartography was produced by the Institut géographique national de Paris, with art direction by Aldo de Sylva.

The atlas mixes several serif and sans serif typefaces. On the title pages and section openers, some of them are extensively modified.

On the dust jacket, the lettering appears to be Futura with shortened ascenders and descenders, probably the Letraset version, as suggested by the hooked lowercase j. The lettering is set entirely in lowercase and spaced TNT (“tight, not touching”), a treatment very much of its time.

The blue cloth binding and the main title page use Berling for their principal display lettering, although the S in “ATLAS” appears to come from another typeface, judging by its serif structure. Beneath the yellow emblem, the publisher’s name, Editions Jeune Afrique, is set in Times New Roman Bold Italic. The spine returns to the lowercase Futura lettering (here, the hook of the j extends below the baseline). Section openers, such as “Les traits généraux du continent africain”, use Baskerville Old Face. The titles on both the main title page and the section openers are set in tightly arranged all caps.

On text-and-map spreads such as “Circulation et transports”, Baskerville Old Face is used for the large heading and Times New Roman for the body text and the oversized page numbers. The maps introduce additional typefaces for labels, legends, and other cartographic information. The country sections follow a consistent template, pairing a Baskerville Old Face heading and national flag with Times New Roman text.

The index uses Annonce / Aurora-Grotesk V for the alphabetical markers (distinguished by the angled terminal of the J’s hook).

The credits name Publications-Élysées in Paris for Lumitype composition. Since not all of the typefaces identified here appear to have been available for the system, parts of the typography may have been produced by other means.

Published by Éditions Jeune Afrique in 1973; first edition, with printing completed in September 1973. 335 pages, approximately 31.5×42 cm, blue clothbound hardcover with dust jacket. Lumitype composition by Publications-Élysées, Paris; cartography by the Institut géographique national de Paris; printed by 4 P Drukkerij Reclame B.V., Rotterdam, and bound by Proost en Brandt N.V., Amsterdam.