As 2009 draws to its inevitable conclusion it seems appropriate to mark the occasion by saving, in my opinion, the best ’till last. To stumble across something of interest in the Bartholomew Archive Printing Record is, in all honesty, almost inevitable. Items printed by Bartholomew can have a genuine cartographic value, they can have great […]
Blinded by the light
This item, from the Bartholomew Archive Printing Record, is a stark contrast to and visually unique from anything else that I have found. It pre-dates Piet Mondrian’s self styled Neo-Plasticism by a good 25 years and whilst you could be forgiven for thinking it was a work of art, as it happens, this is science.
The Water of Life
As the nights begin to draw in, and the temperature hints at frost, my mind turns to an image of myself warmed by a roaring fire with a nice glass of single malt in my hand. Perhaps Bartholomew shared a similar passion as the later part of the Printing Record was stored in large whisky […]
Putting disease on the map
Maps are ever so helpful when it comes to finding one’s way around the world. They are the obvious choice if you need to know how to get to Devon, for example, and they help to put the planet and its features into context. However, for some purposes, maps can have a much more profound […]
Capturing sunshine
Contrary to popular belief, the gorgeous, sweltering, sunshiny weather that we have been hearing about ad nauseam recently was not universally enjoyed. Images of beaches ripe to overflowing and the sad laments of city commuters were the stuff of dreams for those of us suffering torrential rain, blankets of cloud and “nothing to write home […]
Keeping things in proportion
Inspired by an item I’ve recently discovered in the Bartholomew Archive Printing Record the time has come for me to stop glossing over some of the more complicated intricacies of maps and to tackle the art of scale. For those in the know, this is a simple and effective system to communicate the levels of […]
Bartholomew Down Under
As might be expected, a firm as influential as Bartholomew had a sphere of influence well beyond the four walls of their own premises. The correspondence alone that Bartholomew daily received runs the gamut, from Barbados to Kuwait and beyond. But by no means was this an unreciprocated affair. Generations of Bartholomew have travelled the […]
Edinburgh Waverley and the North British Railway
Try as one might, it is impossible to escape the vast quantities of railway related material in the Bartholomew Archive Printing Record. With commissions from the North British, Caledonian and London & North Western Railways, to name but a few, Bartholomew were certainly kept busy by the needs of the railways. In fact, for those […]
Chas. Baker & Co: the men and the map
Many Printing Record items are interesting maps, many items are interesting because they aren’t maps but very few are interesting because they are both. Happily though this apparent dichotomy is resolved in a very small handful of very rare examples. Chas. Baker & Co. Ltd. may neither trip off the tongue nor stir many memories […]
Symbolism of the Free Gardeners of Scotland
The intriguing, and now all but defunct, Free Gardeners of Scotland enjoyed a brief but fruitful association with Bartholomew during the 1880’s. The material that was produced for them is beautiful, complex and to me, utterly fascinating. I do of course realise that at the mention of such societies some of the images that leap to […]