The key word in the Macmillan Visual Dictionary is visual. With 3,500 computer illustrations, the authors claim to have produced "the first comprehensive visual dictionary, in full color."
The full-color distinction is a nod in the direction of Friedrich Brockhaus, who published his black-and-white illustrated encyclopedia, the Bilderatlas, about 140 years ago. Viewed today, the Bilderatlas is more interesting for what it left out than for what was included (just ask any white, euro-centric male).
This is also the case with the Macmillan Visual Dictionary, a book with some of the charm and all of the weaknesses of its German ancestor. After all, what can one make of a book that promises the universe in 28 color-coded chapters? One chapter covers astronomy and another covers "creative leisure activities." That only leaves another 26.
Beautifully drawn and printed, the book does make a useful reference for kids learning the names of things, and is a good source of material for designer/ illustrator types. Maybe in a hundred years some bemused anthropologist will really put it to good use.
The Macmillan Visual Dictionary, $45.00, Macmillan Publishing Company: +1 (212) 702 2000.
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