Carte chronologique by Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg 1753

In some ways this first formal timeline already demonstrates the need for the digital and suggests ways we can translate the digital back to print. Barbeu-Dubourg fit the complete human history, as he conceived of it thematically arranged. It was 54 feet long. He mounted it on scrolls for the viewer to see each section one at a time. In some ways this first formal timeline already demonstrates the opportunities in the digital world. Barbeu-Dubourg organized all of human history into themes and drew them out on one timeline but, the timeline is 54 feet long. The solution then was to put it on a scroll so viewers could scroll through it - a slower but not categorically different solution to (early) digital timelines. Picture found on York University Timeline Visualization Course website