A Taxonomy is a classification, usually represented in a form of a single sheet chart. Here is a fine example - a fusion of text and diagram.  How forbidding is the prospect of making a classification system of all the known languages of the world.

01 In Robert Thornton's Temple of Flora ,he devised a chart whereby the plant kingdom could divided into twenty four categories, depending on the type of stamen of the specimen.

02 In George Turberville's book The Noble Arte of venerie and Hunting , the author divides up the various breed of hound into three classes,

black hounds
dunne hounds
and
white hounds.

 

03 Here is a page from Hieronymus Megiser's Thesaurus polyglottus ... Frankfurt, 1603.