Chart of universal commercial history, from the year 1500 before the Christian Era to the present year 1805, being a space of three thousand three hundred & four years, by William Playfair. Inventor of linear arithmetic.

• Main Authors: Playfair, William, 1759-1823, Marchant, W.
• Format: Map
• Language: unknown
• Published: Greenland and Norris 1805
• Subjects: Historical; Commerce; Economics; Data Visualization; Detroit; Greenland
• Online Access: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~347470~90114913; https://media.davidrumsey.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size4/RUMSEY~8~1/199/14294003.jpg

Fold-out frontispiece: hand-colored engraved chart showing worldwide commercial history from 1500 BC to 1805 AD. Includes a timeline of significant world events, such as "Crusades" and "America discovered". Covers nations categorized as "Ancient seats of wealth & commerce" and "places that have flourished in modern times" and America. The data appears as mountain-like profiles within the chart. Descriptive text accompanies the profiles to clarify their visual representation. Note: The explanation of this plate is at Page 78. Chart is 26 x 45 cm, on sheet 33 x 57, folded to 26 x 19. William Playfair's An inquiry into the permanent causes of the decline and fall of powerful and wealthy nations . , published in London by Greenland and Norris, 1805. First edition; second edition published in 1807. Pagination: [i-iii], iv-xx, [1], 2-301, with [4] fold-out leaves of plates throughout. Includes a preface, table of contents, and historical text, followed by an index. Marbled page edges, now faded. This copy has embossing on title page: Library of the University of Detroit. Plates contain four hand-colored engraved charts showing worldwide economic histories and international relationships, as well as the populations and square miles of nations. The exquisite graphics convey the data through easily comprehensible visuals, which are also stunningly beautiful in pastel hues. William Playfair was the inventor of statistical graphs, and thus a pioneer in infographics and data visualization. "Playfair’s charts can thus be understood as a direct response to the profusion of knowledge and information that we associate with the Enlightenment specifically and with the eighteenth century more generally. This seeming explosion of information—the sheer proliferation of raw data—is, of course, what enables Playfair’s time-series graphs" (Sachs). Full text transcription available via Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16575/16575-h/16575-h.htm ...