Praecipua Systemata Mundi or Important World Systems is a simple yet elegant chart found in Johann Zahn's Specula Physico-Mathematico-Historica published in 1696. By presenting diagrams of the three most important astronomical models in close proximity ...
In most cases it would be a stretch to classify a chart drawn on blue graph paper as a vintage infodesign. However, the graphic fixed to the inside back cover of Alfred Gregory's book, The Picture of Everest, is a classic data-intensive marvel. Charting the history of the famous 1953 conquest of Mount Everest, the graphic effortlessly displays both the hard facts and the human drama of the expedition.
This vintage chart is based on data gathered by the United States Census from 1790 to 1890. Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, directed the first census in 1790 and it included the original 13 states plus the districts of Kentucky, Maine, and Vermont as well as the Southwest Territory of Tennessee.