John Bartholomew and Son
Encyclopedia
Collins Bartholomew, formerly John Bartholomew and Son, is a long-established map
publishing company originally based in Edinburgh
, Scotland
. It is currently a subsidiary of HarperCollins
.
(1805 - 9 April 1861), began working independently in about 1826, founding the firm that bears his name. Notable work included Black’s General Atlas of 1846.
John Bartholomew
Junior (1831–1893) and his son John George Bartholomew
(1860–1920) brought the firm to prominence. In particular, J.G. Bartholomew made the firm a publisher of its own works, rather than a producer of maps for other firms. John (Ian) Bartholomew
(1890–1962) oversaw the Times Survey Atlas of the World
(1922) and later the Mid-Century Edition of the Times Atlas of the World
(1955-60).
The cartographic tradition continued into a fifth family generation. John Christopher Bartholomew
(1923–2008) shared his ancestors' fascination with the natural sciences, their meticulous standards and spirit of enterprise, and oversaw the publication of some of the most detailed and popular maps of the last century, including The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World (1967). His brother Robert, who was trained in printing, soon became the production director, and another brother, Peter, who was trained in accountancy, was first appointed as managing director and later became executive chairman. The youngest brother Alick also went into publishing, specialising in books on holistic science and medicine, and became an authority on Viktor Schauberger
.
In 1989, the firm merged with the Glasgow
publisher Collins
, as part of the multinational
HarperCollins
Publishers under Rupert Murdoch
's News International
corporation. A wide range of maps and atlas
es are still being published today under the imprint of HarperCollins, but the name of Bartholomew survives as the trade name of HarperCollins' cartographic
databases (Collins Bartholomew), based in Bishopbriggs (Glasgow). The British Isles
mapping arm (formerly Geographia Ltd.) was based in Cheltenham
until that office was closed in 2009 and remaining staff made redundant in 2010. Collins Geo in Bishopbriggs continues to handle world mapping, British Isles map products, and sales of geographical data.
, which transmuted into the 1:100,000 National map series in the 1970s. It was eventually discontinued owing largely to stiff competition from the state-financed Ordnance Survey
.
John Bartholomew Junior was credited with having pioneered the use of hypsometric tints
or layer colouring on maps in which low ground is shown in shades of green and higher ground in shades of brown, then eventually purple and finally white. It is his son John George who is attributed with being the first to bring the name 'Antarctica' into popular use as the name for the Southern Continent, and for the adoption of red or pink as the colour for the British Empire.
The firm's first major work as a publisher was The Royal Scottish Geographical Society
's Atlas of Scotland (1895), later called the Survey Atlas of Scotland, which was followed by the Survey Atlas of England and Wales (1903).
In 1922 the company was responsible for the production of a major new atlas for The Times
newspaper: The Times Survey Atlas of the World
. This would later become The Times Comprehensive Atlas
, which received a notable boost when a new Millennium
edition was published using digital map production technology for the first time. The atlas continues to be a 'must-have' for libraries and better-off homes, on account of its almost unrivalled size combined with a policy of detailed updating.
Another great Bartholomew reference atlas was the well-known Citizen's Atlas of the World, which ran through ten editions (1898–1952). Other notable publications include two volumes of the ambitious Physical Atlas: Meteorology (1899) and Zoogeography (1911), based on the landmark Berghaus Physikalischer Atlas.
John Bartholomew & Son Ltd officially ceased to exist when it was de-registered at Companies House in 1995. A new company using the name John Bartholomew & Son Ltd (Companies House SC194433) was registered in Scotland on March 18th 1999. It is based at Hardengreen Business Park just outside Edinburgh, and is owned by former staff.
. Many long-serving staff left at that time. The Duncan Street office in Edinburgh had been built in 1911 using the imposing Palladian façade of a former Bartholomew family home, Falcon Hall
, and this now forms the frontage for a series of up-market flats
created from the former offices. The works behind the offices were demolished and replaced by new blocks of flats, which were named by the builder after famous Scottish writers who had no connection with Bartholomews' or cartography. An unveiling ceremony was attended by the Princess Royal
- an indication of the high national and international prestige long held by the company.
The departure of the company from Edinburgh after some 170 years in the city was a notable moment in the history of map-making in Scotland, but little was made of the move in the public media, and it was left largely to the initiative of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
and George Russell (not an employee) to arrange for the erection of a commemorative plaque with the cooperation of the last John Bartholomew
.
(which is located near the former Duncan Street offices) contains the extensive archives of the Bartholomew company, a product of a long and fruitful association between the two organisations. A book, still available from the company at its post-1995 address in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow (Bartholomew - 150 Years), details the history and achievements of Bartholomews’ up to the time of its 150th anniversary in 1976, not very long after the last of the copperplate engravers retired and the company started to pioneer the use of geographic information system
s (GIS
) and computer
-generated mapping for its cartographic publishing and for the selling of map data.
Robert Gordon Bartholomew, of the sixth generation of cartographers, has extensively researched and documented the genealogy not only of his own branch of the family, but also of several other Bartholomew families. His work upholds the belief held by many Bartholomews that all Bartholomews of Scottish origin are related.
John G. Bartholomew built and inhabited "Overton House" in Ealing, London, now home of a lay centre (Benedictine Study and Arts Centre).
Map
A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....
publishing company originally based in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It is currently a subsidiary of HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
.
History
George Bartholomew (8 January 1784 – 23 October 1871, active from 1797) worked as an engraver for Daniel Lizars in Edinburgh. His son, John Bartholomew SeniorJohn Bartholomew Senior
John Bartholomew Senior was a Scottish cartographer and engraver.The son of George Bartholomew , John founded the engraving and mapmaking firm of John Bartholomew and Son Ltd. in 1826....
(1805 - 9 April 1861), began working independently in about 1826, founding the firm that bears his name. Notable work included Black’s General Atlas of 1846.
John Bartholomew
John Bartholomew
John Bartholomew Junior was a Scottish cartographer, born in Edinburgh.His father John Bartholomew Senior started a cartographical establishment in Edinburgh,Scotland and he was educated in the work. He was subsequently assistant to the German geographer August Petermann, until in 1856 he took up...
Junior (1831–1893) and his son John George Bartholomew
John George Bartholomew
John George Bartholomew FRSE was a British cartographer and geographer. As a holder of a royal warrant, he used the title "Cartographer to the King"; for this reason he was sometimes known by the epithet "the Prince of Cartography".Bartholomew's longest lasting legacy is arguably naming the...
(1860–1920) brought the firm to prominence. In particular, J.G. Bartholomew made the firm a publisher of its own works, rather than a producer of maps for other firms. John (Ian) Bartholomew
John (Ian) Bartholomew
John Bartholomew CBE, generally known as Ian Bartholomew was a Scottish cartographer and geographer....
(1890–1962) oversaw the Times Survey Atlas of the World
Times Atlas of the World
The Times Atlas of the World, rebranded The Times Atlas of the World: Comprehensive Edition in its 11th edition and The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World from its 12th edition, is a world atlas currently published by HarperCollins...
(1922) and later the Mid-Century Edition of the Times Atlas of the World
Times Atlas of the World
The Times Atlas of the World, rebranded The Times Atlas of the World: Comprehensive Edition in its 11th edition and The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World from its 12th edition, is a world atlas currently published by HarperCollins...
(1955-60).
The cartographic tradition continued into a fifth family generation. John Christopher Bartholomew
John Christopher Bartholomew
John Christopher Bartholomew or J.C. Bartholomew was a Scottish cartographer and geographer.He was the son of John Bartholomew , and the great-great-grandson of the founder of John Bartholomew and Son Ltd.....
(1923–2008) shared his ancestors' fascination with the natural sciences, their meticulous standards and spirit of enterprise, and oversaw the publication of some of the most detailed and popular maps of the last century, including The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World (1967). His brother Robert, who was trained in printing, soon became the production director, and another brother, Peter, who was trained in accountancy, was first appointed as managing director and later became executive chairman. The youngest brother Alick also went into publishing, specialising in books on holistic science and medicine, and became an authority on Viktor Schauberger
Viktor Schauberger
Viktor Schauberger was an Austrian forester/forest warden, naturalist, philosopher, inventor and Biomimicry experimenter....
.
In 1989, the firm merged with the Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
publisher Collins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, as part of the multinational
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
Publishers under Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
's News International
News International
News International Ltd is the United Kingdom newspaper publishing division of News Corporation. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc....
corporation. A wide range of maps and atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...
es are still being published today under the imprint of HarperCollins, but the name of Bartholomew survives as the trade name of HarperCollins' cartographic
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
databases (Collins Bartholomew), based in Bishopbriggs (Glasgow). The British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
mapping arm (formerly Geographia Ltd.) was based in Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
until that office was closed in 2009 and remaining staff made redundant in 2010. Collins Geo in Bishopbriggs continues to handle world mapping, British Isles map products, and sales of geographical data.
Publications
Bartholomew was the only survivor of a number of important map publishers in Scotland, and was notable for a prolific output and variety of maps and atlases for academic, commercial and travel purposes, including the popular 62-sheet Half-Inch to One Mile map series of Great BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, which transmuted into the 1:100,000 National map series in the 1970s. It was eventually discontinued owing largely to stiff competition from the state-financed Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
.
John Bartholomew Junior was credited with having pioneered the use of hypsometric tints
Hypsometric tints
Hypsometric tints are related to contour lines. They can be used to depict ranges of elevation as bands of color, usually in a graduated scheme, or as a color ramp applied to contour lines themselves. A typical scheme progresses from dark greens for lower elevations up through yellows/browns, and...
or layer colouring on maps in which low ground is shown in shades of green and higher ground in shades of brown, then eventually purple and finally white. It is his son John George who is attributed with being the first to bring the name 'Antarctica' into popular use as the name for the Southern Continent, and for the adoption of red or pink as the colour for the British Empire.
The firm's first major work as a publisher was The Royal Scottish Geographical Society
Royal Scottish Geographical Society
The Royal Scottish Geographical Society is a learned society founded in 1884 and based in Perth. The Society has a membership of 2500 and aims to advance the science of geography worldwide by supporting education, research, expeditions, through its journal , its newsletter and other publications...
's Atlas of Scotland (1895), later called the Survey Atlas of Scotland, which was followed by the Survey Atlas of England and Wales (1903).
In 1922 the company was responsible for the production of a major new atlas for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper: The Times Survey Atlas of the World
Times Atlas of the World
The Times Atlas of the World, rebranded The Times Atlas of the World: Comprehensive Edition in its 11th edition and The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World from its 12th edition, is a world atlas currently published by HarperCollins...
. This would later become The Times Comprehensive Atlas
Times Atlas of the World
The Times Atlas of the World, rebranded The Times Atlas of the World: Comprehensive Edition in its 11th edition and The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World from its 12th edition, is a world atlas currently published by HarperCollins...
, which received a notable boost when a new Millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
edition was published using digital map production technology for the first time. The atlas continues to be a 'must-have' for libraries and better-off homes, on account of its almost unrivalled size combined with a policy of detailed updating.
Another great Bartholomew reference atlas was the well-known Citizen's Atlas of the World, which ran through ten editions (1898–1952). Other notable publications include two volumes of the ambitious Physical Atlas: Meteorology (1899) and Zoogeography (1911), based on the landmark Berghaus Physikalischer Atlas.
John Bartholomew & Son Ltd officially ceased to exist when it was de-registered at Companies House in 1995. A new company using the name John Bartholomew & Son Ltd (Companies House SC194433) was registered in Scotland on March 18th 1999. It is based at Hardengreen Business Park just outside Edinburgh, and is owned by former staff.
Relocation
The company was relocated from its offices in Duncan Street, Edinburgh, in 1995 to HarperCollins’ Glasgow offices in Westerhill Road, BishopbriggsBishopbriggs
Bishopbriggs is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The area was once part of the historic parish of Cadder - originally lands granted by King William the Lion to the Bishop of Glasgow, Jocelin, in 1180. It was later part of the county of Lanarkshire and subsequently an independent burgh from...
. Many long-serving staff left at that time. The Duncan Street office in Edinburgh had been built in 1911 using the imposing Palladian façade of a former Bartholomew family home, Falcon Hall
Falcon Hall
Falcon Hall was a large mansion home in Morningside, Edinburgh. It was built in 1780 by William Coulter, a wealthy hosier and baillie who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1808 until his death in 1810....
, and this now forms the frontage for a series of up-market flats
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
created from the former offices. The works behind the offices were demolished and replaced by new blocks of flats, which were named by the builder after famous Scottish writers who had no connection with Bartholomews' or cartography. An unveiling ceremony was attended by the Princess Royal
Princess Royal
Princess Royal is a style customarily awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. The style is held for life, so a princess cannot be given the style during the lifetime of another Princess Royal...
- an indication of the high national and international prestige long held by the company.
The departure of the company from Edinburgh after some 170 years in the city was a notable moment in the history of map-making in Scotland, but little was made of the move in the public media, and it was left largely to the initiative of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
Royal Scottish Geographical Society
The Royal Scottish Geographical Society is a learned society founded in 1884 and based in Perth. The Society has a membership of 2500 and aims to advance the science of geography worldwide by supporting education, research, expeditions, through its journal , its newsletter and other publications...
and George Russell (not an employee) to arrange for the erection of a commemorative plaque with the cooperation of the last John Bartholomew
John Christopher Bartholomew
John Christopher Bartholomew or J.C. Bartholomew was a Scottish cartographer and geographer.He was the son of John Bartholomew , and the great-great-grandson of the founder of John Bartholomew and Son Ltd.....
.
Archives
The Map Library of the National Library of ScotlandNational Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. It is based in a collection of buildings in Edinburgh city centre. The headquarters is on George IV Bridge, between the Old Town and the university quarter...
(which is located near the former Duncan Street offices) contains the extensive archives of the Bartholomew company, a product of a long and fruitful association between the two organisations. A book, still available from the company at its post-1995 address in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow (Bartholomew - 150 Years), details the history and achievements of Bartholomews’ up to the time of its 150th anniversary in 1976, not very long after the last of the copperplate engravers retired and the company started to pioneer the use of geographic information system
Geographic Information System
A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...
s (GIS
Geographic Information System
A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...
) and computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
-generated mapping for its cartographic publishing and for the selling of map data.
Robert Gordon Bartholomew, of the sixth generation of cartographers, has extensively researched and documented the genealogy not only of his own branch of the family, but also of several other Bartholomew families. His work upholds the belief held by many Bartholomews that all Bartholomews of Scottish origin are related.
John G. Bartholomew built and inhabited "Overton House" in Ealing, London, now home of a lay centre (Benedictine Study and Arts Centre).
External links
- Collins Bartholomew official website with a brief history of the Bartholomew firm
- Bartholomew: A Scottish Family Heritage - site maintained by the family.
- The Bartholomew Archive website at the National Library of Scotland has more details about the history of the firm and family, the contents of and access to the Archive, and selected publications.
- Times World Atlases official website including a History and Heritage section detailing landmark Times atlases
- Collins Geo the successors of John Bartholomew and Son and publishers of Times atlases
- View the 1912 Survey Atlas of Scotland at the National Library of Scotland and more information about the Bartholomew family; as well as many other maps of Scotland.
- DavidRumsey.com has the landmark 1922 Times Survey Atlas of the World online, as well as many other maps and atlases.