J. G. (John George) Bartholomew

Born in Edinburgh in 1860, he came from the celebrated Bartholomew family of map engravers and publishers and eventually took charge of the family firm. He built on that foundation to become one of Britain’s best-known cartographers and geographers, and he was widely associated with raising the quality and ambition of British mapmaking.

He is especially remembered for improving the way maps showed the physical shape of the land, including the use of contouring and layered color to represent relief more clearly. He also played an important role in geographical publishing, and his work helped pave the way for major reference projects including The Times Survey Atlas of the World, which appeared shortly after his death.

Bartholomew was active in the wider geographical world as well as in publishing. He was closely involved with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and his reputation was strong enough that he was known as "Cartographer to the King" and sometimes called the "Prince of Cartography." He died in 1920, but his influence can still be felt in the look and language of modern atlases.