Bartholomew grave, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh

John Bartholomew (25 December 1831 – 30 March 1893) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

Life

Bartholomew was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland. His father,

John Bartholomew Sr. John Bartholomew Sr. (26 April 1805 – 8 April 1861) was a Scottish cartographer and engraver. Life The son of George Bartholomew, engraver (1784–1871), he founded the engraving and mapmaking firm of John Bartholomew and Son Ltd. i ...

, started a cartographical establishment in Edinburgh, and he was educated in the work. He was subsequently assistant to the German geographer

August Petermann Augustus Heinrich Petermann (18 April 182225 September 1878) was a German cartographer. Early years Petermann was born in Bleicherode, Germany. When he was 14 years old he started grammar school in the nearby town of Nordhausen. His mother wan ...

, until in 1856 he took up the management of his father's firm. For this establishment, now known as the

Edinburgh Geographical Institute The Edinburgh Geographical Institute was founded as a map publishers by famed Scottish geographer and cartographer John George Bartholomew in 1888. History Around 1826 John Bartholomew Sr. opened a firm dedicated to the production of maps calle ...

, Bartholomew built up a reputation unsurpassed in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

for the production of the finest cartographical work. Bartholomew was an in-house cartographer for George Philip. He is best known for the development of colour contouring (or

hypsometric tints Hypsometric tints (also called layer tinting, elevation tinting, elevation coloring, or hysometric coloring) are colors placed between contour lines to indicate elevation. These tints are shown as bands of color in a graduated scheme or as a co ...

), the system of representing altitudes on a graduated colour scale, with areas of high altitude in shades of brown and areas of low altitude in shades of green. He first showcased his colour contouring system at the

Paris Exhibition of 1878 The third Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle in French, was held from 1 May to 10 November 1878. It celebrated the recovery of France after the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War. Construction The buildings and the fairgroun ...

; although it initially met with skepticism, it went on to become standard cartographical practice. Among his numerous publications, particularly worthy of note is the series of maps of Great Britain reduced from the

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to scales of ½ inch and ¾ inch to 1 mile, with relief shown by

contour line A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional grap ...

s and hypsometric tints. The ½ inch series is among the finest of its kind ever produced. Upon his retirement in 1888, John Bartholomew was succeeded in the firm by his son John George, who extended the ½-inch series, and applied its principles to many other works. For the last six years of his life Bartholomew was living at 32 Royal Terrace in Edinburgh.Mitchell , Anne (1993), "The People of Calton Hill", p. 83, Mercat Press, James Thin, Edinburgh, Bartholomew died in London on 30 March 1893. He is buried with his parents in

Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hil ...

in Edinburgh, in the northwest section. His wife Annie McGregor (1836–1872), whom he greatly outlived, is also buried there.

References

;Attribution

External links

Bartholomew: A Scottish Family Heritage
- site maintained by the family.
Times World Atlases official website
including
History and Heritage section
detailing landmark Times atlases *See an 1856 map by John Bartholome
''Texas, part of New Mexico &c. / drawn & engraved by J. Bartholomew.''
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History
1831 births 1893 deaths Scientists from Edinburgh Scottish cartographers Burials at the Grange Cemetery 19th-century Scottish businesspeople {{Scotland-business-bio-stub

Life

See also

References

External links