In the summer of 1891, John Bartholomew & Co. launched a cartographic tour de force whose sheer magnificence continues to awe. Bartholomew’s Plan of the City of Edinburgh with Leith and Suburbs. Reduced from the Ordnance Survey and Revised to the Present Date by John Bartholomew, or the Large Plan of Edinburgh & Leith, as it’s more usually […]
Tag: scotland
Traveller’s Guide to Literary Scotland – Wigtownshire’s best
With good – but unpredictable – weather showing Scotland off at her best it seems like a good time for the holidaymaker or day-tripper to dip into a fairly new publication from Association for Scottish Literary Studies . Academic and poet Alan Riach has written A Traveller’s guide to literary Scotland.
The Evolution of a Map
It is largely agreed that John Bartholomew & Son. Ltd. can lay claim to a distinguished and deserved reputation as regards the quality of their maps and their ability to innovate. Successive generations pioneered new projections, new types of content and even new methods of folding, but arguably the pinnacle of all of this innovation […]
Scottish opera stars
We have recently added some interesting early 20th century items to our collections associated with two of the famous names from Scotland’s musical past.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]