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Visualization

Paul Michel (Zürich):

Prolegomena to a Universal Grammar of the Visualization of Knowledge

Translation made by Sabine Michel

Deutsche Version des Aufsatzes auf der Hompage des Projekts »Allgemeinwissen und Gesellschaft«

Preliminary remarks

The topic of this paper is the graphic representation of 'known' things, in other words, the transmission of knowledge in the form of images / diagrams / charts etc.

The aim is to establish a high-resolution, systematic, cross-cultural grid as a means of analysing images which depict elements of knowledge.

This is a little-researched field. I believe that visualization is ruled by a 'grammar' which is very similar in different cultures whilst also exhibiting culture-specific differences. I will proceed on the basis of Western examples. I leave it to the specialist to decide whether or not there are parallels in Eastern cultural areas.

I am working on a typology of visualization. I am not yet in a position to offer a history of visualization techniques, or intercultural comparisons.

The examples draw on children's encyclopaedias, popular science encyclopaedias, multi-volume encyclopaedias and specialised encyclopaedias without differentiating between the different kinds or 'ranks' of encyclopaedias. Nor shall I address the issue of whether or not mimetic illustrations are reproduced 'accurately' (compared to the direct observation of the object).

For the time being, my study is only a loose collection of impressionistic observations, organised more or less systematically (in terms of "O – F – T" – see below). I have been searching for criteria for a more potent systematisation – criteria which are general enough to allow a comparison of cultures (explanatory power) but also stay close enough to the objects to yield good descriptions of the phenomena (descriptive power).

 

The textual medium vs. the visual/pictorial medium

Each medium has its strengths and weaknesses: the textual medium, the medium of direct demonstration (demonstrating a process; apprenticeship), the visual (or pictorial) medium. All these media are subject to specific possibilities: on the one hand they impose constraints, on the other hand they have deficits. What can be left unexpressed, what needs to be explained? In what sequence can the components be presented?

Example:

In a text, I can simply write "A boy entered the room." When trying to represent this in a picture, the graphic designer has to decide whether he wants to show the boy with or without a hat. – In a text, I can simply write "Children may not use the lift unaccompanied." The pictorial medium lacks logical connectives such as negation (pictograms with slashes across them only emerged relatively recently in history). – In a picture, a landscape can be shown together with people etc., and viewers can "stroll" through the picture just as they please. Text, however, is bound to linearity and will inevitably restrict the reader's view of the landscape.

The important difference is that language (apart from proper names) schematises heavily. Even simple autosemantic words such as "dog", "fork", or "string quartet" refer to abstract concepts, not to mention so-called 'abstracta' ("gross national product" etc). Furthermore, language – unlike images – extends to logical connectives such as "all", "some", "if – then". The advantages of the visual/pictorial medium, such as its immediate effect on our psyche, are not relevant in encyclopaedias.

No image appears out of nowhere, nor does it emerge from any "pure" perception of 'reality'. Patterns, notions and conventions precede the perception and representation of images. And the same point applies to the reception of images: knowledge of these patterns is crucial to the understanding of images (especially if the images come from other cultures or distant epochs).

Reality can never be brought into the text / image in its entirety, it is always too complex.

The author / graphic artist reduces that complexity in a didactically intelligent manner: he leaves out what is unimportant and instead represents the main point of interest in such a way as to make it memorable.

In doing so, the graphic artist relies on the readers' / viewers' capacity to infer things which are not explicitly stated / represented – to 'fill in the gaps' – using their own knowledge (cf. presuppositions, places of indeterminacy).

Reading texts / images requires specific training on the part of the user, who has to retrace correctly the steps taken by the author / graphic artist in the process of simplification. 

Three dimensions

I propose a three-dimensional classification system:
(O) Logical status of the object that is being visualized
(F) Function(s) of the image
(T) Techniques of visualization (with a sub-category devoted to comprehension aids)

These dimensions are of course related to one another: certain objects and functions require certain techniques. In the description of an image, the three components of O-F-T always figure in concert. The following remarks will each focus on only one of the three dimensions. 

three-dimensional grid
three-dimensional grid

(O) Different types of objects 

Introductory remarks

There is an evident connection between the logical type of that which is to be conveyed and the type of image. Unique objects, or persons, require an image that is as mimetic as possible; abstract concepts, however, require a schematised image that can stand for many concrete occurrences.

Formal (predicate and propositional) logic is too limited here. It needs to be extended by distinguishing between semantic types.

(O) Proper names (words representing unique objects)

The denotata of proper names (people, towns, but also other things) can be represented by an ostensive definition; occasionally, a mimetic image may be convenient. 

Example 1: The imperial German crown
Example 1: The imperial German crown

Example 2: The spiral galaxy NGC 6872

We know that in portraits and vedute (cityscapes) real individuals only appear relatively late; Schedel's World Chronicle (1493) and Stumpff's Chronicle (1547) feature typified portraits; however, both already contain realistic views of cities. In Sebastian Münster's "Cosmographia", the signatures of emperors and kings seem more characteristic, more expressive, than the woodcut portraits.

(O) Unchangeable entities

If an article deals with relatively stable entities that do not vary from culture to culture (insofar as such stability exists at all) – animal species, plants, rock, etc. – then it is possible at least to portray a prototypical specimen. 

Example: The Surinam toad Pipa
Example: The Surinam toad Pipa

(O) Technical devices

The interesting parts of technical devices are mostly invisible from the outside; the way the parts of the mechanism interact has to be shown by suitable graphic methods. 

Example: The fire extinguisher in Florinus
Example: The fire extinguisher in Florinus

(O) Processes in nature, technology and the social world

Many objects can only be usefully described in terms of a sequence; in these cases, the graphic artist has to produce a kind of animated cartoon which he then splits into parts that can be arranged as a sequence. 

Example 1: Human blood circulation
Example 1: Human blood circulation
Example 2: A brewery or a paper mill
Example 2: A brewery or a paper mill
Example 3. the levels of jurisdiction (system of courts)
Example 3. the levels of jurisdiction (system of courts)

(O) Abstract notions and mental constructs

It is easy to argue that images render abstract things concrete. But we should bear in mind that there are different kinds of abstractness. I cannot offer a classification of the types of abstraction here; we will make do with a few remarks.

One type of induction works by leaving aside certain features of an object.

Example:"Sauts" (Types of leaps) from Larousse
Example:"Sauts" (Types of leaps) from Larousse

Another type of induction works by summing up of a mass of terms under a new superordinate term (in terms of set theory: set union).  

Example: 'Symphony orchestra', consisting of violins, violas, cellos, oboes, flutes, horns, timpani, etc.
Example: 'Symphony orchestra', consisting of violins, violas, cellos, oboes, flutes, horns, timpani, etc.

Pictures of everyday scenes, slice-of-life pictures as it were, belong to this type, too. They are represented in (unrealistic, all-encompassing) artificially assembled tableaux; cf. (T). 

Example 1: "the medieval castle" (vs. Chillon castle)
Example 1: "the medieval castle" (vs. Chillon castle)
Example 2. The beach in the Bilderduden
Example 2. The beach in the Bilderduden

Mental constructs: It is well known that constellations do not 'exist': we just read them into the chaotic mass of bright points in the night sky. Celestial charts (with Bootes, Pegasus, Swan, Plough) guide our star-gazing. 

Example: Star chart of the Northern sky
Example: Star chart of the Northern sky

(O) Abstract logical relationships

Logical relationships are visualized for didactic purposes. 

Example: The so-called 'square of opposition'
Example: The so-called 'square of opposition'

(O) Statistical material

Numbers, relations between sets of numbers; graphically represented in tables and graphics (bar charts, pie charts). The 6th edition of "Meyers Großes Konversationslexikon" (1908ff.) makes only tentative and sparing use of line diagrams to display statistics etc. 

Example: Pie chart "Superficie comparé des océans et des continents" from Larousse 1917
Example: Pie chart "Superficie comparé des océans et des continents" from Larousse 1917

(F) Functions

To say that images serve to explain things graphically would be too simple. It is possible to distinguish between the different functions / tasks / achievements of images. The following rough distinctions can be made: functions in relation to a particular object – the readership – the encyclopaedia as such. 

(F) Exploiting a medium's strengths

Images show a whole structure at once whereas text can only render it piece by piece. Below is the written description of the "Universal Joint" and an illustration with very short text for the same cardan joint.

Example: The Cardan joint
Example: The Cardan joint

(F) Depicting things which can be represented visually but are invisible to the human eye

Objects may be obscure for a variety of reasons. An object may be too small (microbes) or too far away (the surface of the moon) to be visible to the naked eye; the view of the object may be obstructed by other objects (the constructive parts of a machine), or it may be impossible to visit the object (the interior of the earth). 

Example 1: The image of a flea in Hooke's "Micrographia" which was reproduced in many encyclopaedias
Example 1: The image of a flea in Hooke's "Micrographia" which was reproduced in many encyclopaedias
Example 2: A sectional view of Earth which first appeared in Athanasius Kircher's "Mundus subterraneus" (1664) and then reappeared regularly.
Example 2: A sectional view of Earth which first appeared in Athanasius Kircher's "Mundus subterraneus" (1664) and then reappeared regularly.

(F) Representing the unrepresentable

We seem to have a particularly pronounced desire to visualize that which cannot be seen, a desire to perceive abstract things with our senses. 

Example 1: the genealogy of a family (family tree)
Example 1: the genealogy of a family (family tree)
Example 2: The hierarchichal organisation in a company
Example 2: The hierarchichal organisation in a company

(F) Illustrations as strategies for authentication

This type involves images which represent the extraordinary in the belief that the observer will consider an image to be more credible than a text. These kinds of images are rarely found in encyclopaedias, which set out explicitly to provide only reliable information. 

Example1: the illustration of the monstrous races in Reisch's "Margarita" (1517, Liber VIII, Cap. xix)
Example1: the illustration of the monstrous races in Reisch's "Margarita" (1517, Liber VIII, Cap. xix)
Example 2: The Indian ants in Pliny the Younger
Example 2: The Indian ants in Pliny the Younger

(F) Illustrations as decorative additions

There are illustrations with no informative function (Christian Doelker: "phatic images", "Füllbilder"). Illustrations of this kind are added to the text as eye-catchers. 

Example 1: The entry for the poet Homer is embellished by a vase painting of Odysseus tied to the mast, and the three sirens.
Example 1: The entry for the poet Homer is embellished by a vase painting of Odysseus tied to the mast, and the three sirens.
Example 2: The lemma "Geisha" shows an orientalist illustration of a Geisha, but the text merely defines a Geisha as a dancer in a tea-house.
Example 2: The lemma "Geisha" shows an orientalist illustration of a Geisha, but the text merely defines a Geisha as a dancer in a tea-house.
Example 3: The lemma "Academies" by a woodcut from an Italian book of the Renaissance (Britannica).
Example 3: The lemma "Academies" by a woodcut from an Italian book of the Renaissance (Britannica).

(F) Images which help organise the knowledge presented in the encyclopaedia

J.J. Berns uses the term "Ordnungsbilder" (=> "Images or order") for this type of illustration. 

Example: the tree of nature and logic by Ramon Lull
Example: the tree of nature and logic by Ramon Lull

(F) Illustrations on a meta-level

Countless encyclopaedias have cover pictures (frontispieces) which make a statement about their contents. 

Example 1: The frontispiece of Garzoni's Piazza
Example 1: The frontispiece of Garzoni's Piazza

Some turn the title metaphor (e.g. 'Piazza') into a picture and others illustrate the universality of knowledge, e.g. the different disciplines (such as physicist, pharmacist etc.) in the frontispiece of the "Encyclopédie". 

Example 2: The frontispiece of the "Encyclopédie"
Example 2: The frontispiece of the "Encyclopédie"

(T) Techniques, devices, tools

General remarks
It is difficult to classify these techniques systematically. Let us begin with an overview of the types:

Model (mimetic images; stylisations; diagrams)

Synecdoche (different types)

Perspectivation and section views

Compilation images of various kinds

Superordination ('piggyback images')

Basically, graphic realisations fall into one of two categories: either model1 or synecdoche.

Models serve to present a little-known system (the explanandum) in simplified form. – They draw on a different semantic field (water waves simulate the interference of light waves). – They can serve different functions: they may facilitate comprehensibility, make it possible to manipulate the object without risk, or reduce costs (my Ferrari on a scale of 1:24 in the display cabinet), etc. – There are many correspondences between explanandum and model; relevant features are carefully reproduced whilst irrelevant features are neglected (in a model of an aeroplane intended for the wind tunnel, the exterior of the model has to be an exact match of the original exterior, but it is not necessary to simulate passengers in the interior). If the explanandum already exists, then it is a case of a 'model-of-something'; but models can also serve the construction of something that does not yet exist.

The techniques used by synecdoche cannot be regarded as models (cf. the difference between metaphor and metonymy in rhetoric!): in synecdoche, the explanandum is not transferred to another world; rather, the degree of abstraction is reduced for the purpose of graphic realisation by adding individual, concrete elements of the explanandum to the illustration. (Though this element is then rendered as an image, i.e. reproduced as a model). I distinguish between the following subtypes:

  • A specimen represents a whole class
  • A part represents the whole (pars-pro-toto)
  • A special case represents something general 

(T) The scale from ostensive definition (the most mimetically exact reproduction possible) to stylisation

There are only gradual differences between mimetic images (e.g. photographs) and diagrammatic (schematic) images. (A photograph is also a model of that which it represents, determined by the chosen viewfinder frame, focus, depth of sharpness etc.) An illustration never simply illustrates, but also always skews the depiction in a certain direction. 

Example: Photograph of Albert Schweitzer
Example: Photograph of Albert Schweitzer

This may mean that an object has to be prepared in such a way that the most important feature stands out from the rest (example: Gram staining of bacteria).

All models schematise, and in many cases this results in a very considerable degree of abstraction. 

Example: Inflorescences
Example: Inflorescences

(T) Diagrams

The extreme case of stylisation in a model is the use of randomly chosen graphic forms to depict the explanandum. Instead of a 'natural' (were there such a thing!) similarity between model and explanandum, the representational relationship is ruled by convention. (By grossly simplifying the terms of Charles S. Peirce's semiotics, one might say that here the semiotic type "symbol" predominates over the "icon" type.) The observer needs to learn these conventions explicitly; they are frequently contained in captions, cf. (H) below. Organisation charts also belong to this category (e.g. the system of courts of law above). 

Examples: Circuit diagram of a broadcast receiver (ohmic resistance drawn as a rectangle, transformer as a coil).
Examples: Circuit diagram of a broadcast receiver (ohmic resistance drawn as a rectangle, transformer as a coil).

(T) Charts

Systematic logical relationships such as mathematical functions (set relations) can be realised graphically as tables or graphics (curves, bar charts). This type also involves modelling. 

Example: Population pyramid
Example: Population pyramid

(T) Synecdoche I: A specimen represents a whole class

This technique is used for cases that belong to the induction type of 'intersection'. 

Example: In order to illustrate the Chippendale style one particular piece of furniture which is typical of the style can be used.
Example: In order to illustrate the Chippendale style one particular piece of furniture which is typical of the style can be used.

(T) Synecdoche II: A part represents the whole

This technique is used for cases that belong to the induction type of 'set union'. 

Example: A particular piece of work stands for an artist (painter, sculptor): Aristide Maillol
Example: A particular piece of work stands for an artist (painter, sculptor): Aristide Maillol

(T) Synecdoche III: A special case represents something general

This technique is used for other types of abstracta. 

Example. In order to depict "anger", the physiognomy of a very angry man is pictured (Krünitz, adapted from LeBrun)
Example. In order to depict "anger", the physiognomy of a very angry man is pictured (Krünitz, adapted from LeBrun)

(T) Choice of an extreme perspective

Certain objects can only be shown clearly if an extreme perspective is chosen (one not naturally possible). 

Example: views of cities from high viewpoints, e.g. Genua in Schedel
Example: views of cities from high viewpoints, e.g. Genua in Schedel

(T) Cross-sectional views

The object is graphically presented in a cross-sectional view, X-ray photograph or divided into parts in order to show those parts which are normally hidden from our view (F). 

Example 1: A cutaway view of a cow udder
Example 1: A cutaway view of a cow udder
Example 2: Section views of a ball valve
Example 2: Section views of a ball valve
Example 3: A steam locomotive.
Example 3: A steam locomotive.
Example 4: The 'exploded views' of looms in the "Encyclopédie's" volumes of plates
Example 4: The 'exploded views' of looms in the "Encyclopédie's" volumes of plates
Example 5: Potter's wheel, dismantled and complete
Example 5: Potter's wheel, dismantled and complete

(T) Compilation images

Here we are concerned with cases in which several objects are depicted in a single graphic. We can distinguish between different types. The trivial case – the mimetic representation of an ensemble that would not naturally occur together – hardly ever appears in encyclopaedias, since their purpose is usually to focus on single objects.

 

Juxtaposition of different concrete forms of the same concept (hypernyms). The viewer of the picture can form a Boolean intersection (subset), i.e. abstract all characteristic features in order to arrive at the abstractum. 

Example: "Véhicules", from Larousse 1917
Example: "Véhicules", from Larousse 1917
Example: "Alphabet des sourds-muets" from Larousse 1917
Example: "Alphabet des sourds-muets" from Larousse 1917

Simultaneous presentation of things / creatures / people that belong together, but would never appear together as they do in the picture. 

Example 1: Ethiopian fauna, from Meyer 1908
Example 1: Ethiopian fauna, from Meyer 1908
Example 2: "Asie", from Larousse 1917
Example 2: "Asie", from Larousse 1917

Antithetic juxtaposition of objects from different places or times. 

Examples 1: Diagram of the rivers of the earth
Examples 1: Diagram of the rivers of the earth
Example 2: The tallest buildings on earth
Example 2: The tallest buildings on earth
Example 3: Comparison of the dimensions of Portuguese colonies with the size of Europe
Example 3: Comparison of the dimensions of Portuguese colonies with the size of Europe

Simultaneous presentation of asynchronous events, sometimes in comic-strip-like sequences. 

Examples 1: The phases of the somersault
Examples 1: The phases of the somersault
Example 2: The four-stroke engine (Otto cycle)
Example 2: The four-stroke engine (Otto cycle)
Example 3: The life cycle of the frog (from egg to tadpole to adult frog)
Example 3: The life cycle of the frog (from egg to tadpole to adult frog)

(T) Superimposed layers ('piggyback pictures')

In order to visualize complex subjects, the graphic artist can superimpose different levels of reality on each other. Charles Minard (1781–1870)2 drew a statistical chart of the French invasion of Russia (Carte figurative des pertes successives en hommes de l’armée française dans la campagne de Russie), in which he combined four levels: the level of geography as a map + the temporal sequence of the march by indicating the date + the temperature at the time in question (in the form of a Réaumur temperature scale that runs parallel to the route) + level of force (indicated by line thickness). 

Example 1: Isotherms on a geographical map
Example 1: Isotherms on a geographical map
Example 2: The territorial expansion of the United States in the course of history
Example 2: The territorial expansion of the United States in the course of history
Example 3: Jacob's staff: mimetic representation of the person using the instrument & auxiliary lines
Example 3: Jacob's staff: mimetic representation of the person using the instrument & auxiliary lines

(H) Comprehension aids

Graphic artists often provide comprehension aids to make it easier for people to view and understand an image. These aids can be used with several of the aforementioned techniques (T), which is why we treat them separately here.

Cropping

Graphic 'extracting' or 'cropping', i.e. the freeing of a motive from a distracting background, is a special kind of stylisation. It is designed to ensure that the viewer will not be distracted by the background or any other irrelevant aspects of the image. 

Example: Geiler/Comenius, image no 79: the sensory organs)
Example: Geiler/Comenius, image no 79: the sensory organs)

The counterpart to cropping is the contextualisation of an object; cf. the section on compilation images above.

Example: the reindeer " mammifère ruminant de l’hémisphére boréal" (Larousse 1917) is shown harnessed to a sledge; in the background, tents of the Sami people can be seen.

Captions

This is a simple technique where individual parts of the object are identified by using pointers or by labelling them directly with words. 

Example: "Canon" in Larousse 1917
Example: "Canon" in Larousse 1917

In the case of non-mimetic graphic representation of highly complex objects, certain rules (e.g. of transformation) have to be declared or made customary. These allow complexity to be reduced (through stylisation / schematisation). E.g. the importance of a street (not its width) is represented by a particularly bold line. (Switching from satellite view to map view on Google Maps). 

Example: Caption of a geological map
Example: Caption of a geological map

Mnemonic aids in extremely stylised models

Of special interest in this context are the graphic representations of statistics by Otto Neurath (1882–1945), who provides mnemonic aids for his visualized figures (in his book "Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft. Bildstatistisches Elementarwerk" ('Society and Economy, Basic Work of Pictorial Statistics', Leipzig 1930; the book contains 100 charts and diagrams). 

Example of Neurath's work: Graphic illustrating "Births and Deaths in Germany in a Year" where one child represents 250,000 births and one coffin 250,000 deaths a year
Example of Neurath's work: Graphic illustrating "Births and Deaths in Germany in a Year" where one child represents 250,000 births and one coffin 250,000 deaths a year

Allegory

An ensemble / a structure of abstract entities – triggered by a central metaphor – is reproduced more or less isomorphically by an ensemble / a structure of concrete entities. These also amount to models, but ones designed to be particularly striking by virtue of their quality of alienation. 

Example: in Gregor Reisch's "Margarita" there are a number of allegories, e.g. Logica
Example: in Gregor Reisch's "Margarita" there are a number of allegories, e.g. Logica

Image

Meaning

Latin Term

The huntress

Logic

Logica

The hunting horn

Voice

Sonus, vox

Two roses springing from the horn

Premiss

Praemissae

The arm holding the horn

Argumentation

Argumenta

In the hunter's heart

Syllogism

Syllogismus

Bow

Question

Quaestio

Legs

Predictability & predicament

praedicabilia&praedicamenta

Stones on the ground

Errors

Fallaciae

Beautiful & ugly dog

Truth & falseness

Veritas / falsitas

Hunted prey (hare)

The thing in question

Problema

Foilage

[the forest] of opinions

[silva] opinionum

Trees

Followers of four schools

Occamistæ, Scotistæ, Thomistæ, Albertistæ 

Crouching on the ground

Parmenides

Parmenides

And watching the four mountains

All/nothing that which/that which not => the square of logic

Omnis/nullus quidam/quidam non

'Markers of objectivity'

Markers of objectivity (parts of the image signalling that the depicted object really exists) form a category of their own. They are added when the credibility of an image might otherwise be doubted. 

Example: images of bacteria tend to be printed against a black background to create the illusion that the reader is looking through the eyepiece of a microscope
Example: images of bacteria tend to be printed against a black background to create the illusion that the reader is looking through the eyepiece of a microscope

Further questions; clarifications

Central hermeneutical issues:

Which rules of transformation govern the transition from explanandum to model? That is to say: Which kind of schematisation are we dealing with? What is the logical status of the places of indeterminacy? And what does the reader/viewer have to know to be able to fully understand the message? In other words, what is the logical status of the method that is used to specify those indeterminacies?

A universal grammar of visualization?

After this analysis of European encyclopaedias it would now be interesting to see if non-European encyclopaedias are ruled by a similar grammar. – Should we hit upon additional disinctive features, or even completely new categories, we will try to incorporate them into our model.  

The Illustrations used on this site are from the following sources:

Bilder-Conversations-Lexikon für das deutsche Volk. Ein Handbuch zur Verbreitung gemeinnütziger Kenntnisse und zur Unterhaltung in 4 Bänden, Leipzig: Brockhaus 1837–1841. – Reprint Munich 1977.

Der Große Duden. Bildwörterbuch der deutschen Sprache … hg. Otto Basler, Leipzig: Bibliographisches Institut 1935.

Brockhaus Enzyklopädie in 20 Bänden, 17th edition, Wiesbaden 1966–1974.

Johann Amos Comenius, Orbis Sensualium Pictus […] Die sichtbare Welt / Das ist Aller vornemsten Welt-Dinge und Lebens-Verrichtungen Vorbildung und Benahmung, Nürnberg, Endter 1658. – Reprint: Die bibliophilen Taschenbücher Nr. 30, Dortmund: Harenberg 1978.

Encyclopædia Britannica. A New Survey of Universal Knowledge, Vol. I, 1961.

Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers, par une Société de Gens de Lettres. Paris 1751–1772. (Planches)

Johann Samuel Ersch & Johann Gottfried Gruber, Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste, Leipzig 1818–1889, 167 Bände plus one volume of illustrations – Erste Section, Vierzigster Theil, Nachträge zu E, Leipzig 1844.

Franciscus Philippus Florinus [= Pfalzgraf Florinus Philipp von Sulzbach, 1630–1705], Oeconomvs Prvdens et legalis. Oder allgemeiner kluger und Rechts-verständiger Hauß=Vatter, bestehend in neun Büchern … Frankfurt: Ch. Riegel 1705. – Band I.

Neuer Orbis Pictus für die Jugend, oder Schauplatz der Natur, der Kunst und des Menschenlebens in 316 lithographirten Abbildungen mit genauer Erklärung in deutscher, lateinischer, französischer und englischer Sprache nach der früheren Anlage des Comenius bearbeitet und dem jetzigen Zeitbedürfnisse gemäß eingerichtet von J. E. Gailer, Reutlingen: J. C. Mäcken 1832.

Tommaso Garzoni, Piazza universale, Das ist: Allgemeiner Schawplatz /  Marckt / vnd Zusammenkunfft aller Professionen / Künsten / Geschäfften / Händeln vnd Handtwercken / &c. Wann / vnd vom wem sie erfunden: auch welcher massen dieselbige von Tag zu Tag zugenommen: Sampt außführlicher Beschreibung alles dessen / so darzu gehörig […]. Allen Politicis, auch jedermänniglich weß Standes der sey / sehr nutzlich vnd lustig zu lesen. Erstmaln durch Thomam Garzonum, Italiänisch zusammen getragen. Anjetzo auffs trewlichste verteutscht […]. Franckfurt am Mayn / In Verlag Matthæi Merians Sel. Erben  MDCLIX.

E. G. Happelii Gröste Denkwürdigkeiten der Welt Oder so genannte Relationes Curiosæ. Worinnen dargestellet/ und Nach dem Probier-Stein der Vernunfft examiniret werden/ die vornehmsten Physicalis. Mathematis. Historische und andere Merckwürdige Seltzamkeiten/ Welche an unserm sichtbahren Himmel / in und unter der Erden/ und im Meer jemahlen zu finden oder zu sehen gewesen / und sich begeben haben, Der Erste Theil. Hamburg: von Wiering 1683.

Der Große Herder. Nachschlagewerk für Wissen und Leben. 4. Auflage von Herders Konversationslexikon.  – 12. Band Unterfühuung bis Zz, Freiburg/Br. 1935.

Knaurs Konversationslexikon A–Z, hg. Richard Friedenthal, Berlin 1932. [in 1 Bd., © 1931]

Knaurs Jugendlexikon, Munich 1953. [in 1 volume]

Johann Georg Krünitz, Oeconomische Enzyklopädie oder allgemeines System der Land-, Haus- und Staats-Wirthschaft in alphabetischer Ordnung, 242 Bände, Berlin 1786–1858. – 75. Theil. 1798.

Petit Larousse Illustré. Nouveau Dictionnaire Encyclopédique, publié sous la direction de Claude Augé; cent trente-sixième édition, Paris 1917. [in 1 vol.]

Die Welt in Bildern. Orbis pictus. Bilderbuch zur Anschauung und Belehrung, edited by Dr. Lauckhard, 3rd corrected edition Leipzig: E.J.Günther 1872. [EA 1860]

Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Sechste Auflage, Leipzig & Vienna: Bibliographisches Institut 1908.

Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon. Sechste Auflage, 23. Band. Jahres-Supplement 1910-11; Leipzig & Vienna 1912.

Meyers Lexikon; 7. Auflage in vollständig neuer Bearbeitung. – Vierter Band, Leipzig: B.I. 1926.

Sebastian Münster, Cosmographia [EA 1537]; nach dem Druck Basel 1588.

Otto Neurath, Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft. Bildstatistisches Elementarwerk, Leipzig 1930.

Pierer’s Universal-Lexicon der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart oder neuestes encyclopädisches Wörterbuch der Wissenschaften, Künste und Gewerbe. 4th, rewritten and strongly augmented edition, Altenburg 1857–1865. – 18. Band 1864

[Illustration volume with] Universal-Lexicon der Gegenwart und Vergangenheit oder neuestes encyclopädisches Wörterbuch der Wissenschaften, Künste und Gewerbe. Bearbeitet von mehr als 220 Gelehrten. Edited by von Heinrich A. Pierer. Altenburg: Pierer [= sog. 3. Ausgabe]; 1840–46; 1848

Caij Plinij Secundi / Des furtrefflichen Hochgelehrten Alten Philosophie / Bücher und schrifften / von der Natur / art vnd eigentchafft der Creaturen oder Geschöpffe Gottes / […] auß dem Latein verteutscht durch M. Johannem Heyden / Eifflender von Dhaun […]Frankfurt: Sigmund Feyerabend 1656.

Schau-Platz der Natur, oder: Untersuchungen/Gespräche von der Beschaffenheit und den Absichten der natürlichen Dinge, wodurch die Jugend zu weitern Nachforschungen aufgemuntert und auf richtige Begriffe von der Allmacht und Weisheit Gottes geführet wird; with 204 coppeplates, 8 vols. in oktave, Vienna / Nürnberg et.al.: Monath, 1746–1753.

Georg Reisch, Aepitoma omnis phylosophiae. alias Margarita Phylosophica tractans de omni genere scibili, Freiburg 1503. – Reprint of the edition Basel 1517, Düsseldorf: Stern-Verlag Janssen & Co. 1973. (cf. Udo Becker, Die erste Enzyklopaedie aus Freiburg um 1495. Die Bilder der Margarita Philosophica des Gregorius Reisch, Freiburg: Herder 1970.)

Liber cronicarum cum figuris et imaginibus ab initio mundi, auctore Hartmanno Schedelio, Norib.: Koberger 1493.

Schweizer Lexikon in sieben Bänden [hg. Gustav Keckeis u.a.] Encyclicos-Verlag Zürich 1945–1948.

Der Volks-Brockhaus. Deutsches Sach- und Sprachwörterbuch für Schule und Haus. 3rd improved edition, Leipzig 1935 [© 1931, in 1 Bd.].

Der Volks-Brockhaus. Deutsches Sach- und Sprachwörterbuch für Schule und Haus. 9th improved edition, Leipzig 1941 [© 1938, in 1 Bd.].

Die Welt von A bis Z. Ein Lexikon für die Jugend, für Schule und Haus, ed. by Richard Bamberger, Fritz Brunner; Heinrich Lades, Reutlingen: Ensslin & Laiblin / Vienna: Österr. Bundesverlag / Vienna: Verlag für Jugend und Volk / Aarau: Sauerländer 1953 [EA 1952].


Footnote 1: Cf. William Hilton Leatherdale: The role of analogy, model and metaphor in science. Amsterdam: North-Holland, New York: Elsevier 1974. – Herbert Stachowiak, Allgemeine Modelltheorie. Wien: Springer 1973.

Footnote 2: The diagram is readily available on the internet. Cf. Michael Friendly, The Graphic Works of Charles Joseph Minard www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/minbib.html (22.5.2006) 



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