E. G. R. Taylor · 1963
E. G. R. Taylor reviews the Atlas of Britain, published by Clarendon Press and directed by D. P. Bickmore and M. A. Shaw, praising its cartographic design and printing. Its 200 full-page colour plates and gazetteer with National Grid references present geographical, geological, biological, economic and demographic information. Taylor recommends overlaying thematic maps of transport, industry, housing and labour to examine the London–Liverpool commercial and industrial corridor, peripheral industrial centres and population patterns. She recounts the British Association’s atlas project, initiated in 1938 and terminated in 1940 over military security concerns, and advocates providing the new atlas in reference libraries, Parliament and local planning departments.
L. Dudley Stamp · 1963
L. Dudley Stamp reviews The Atlas of Britain and Northern Ireland (Clarendon Press, 1963), calling it a landmark in British cartography. He traces national-atlas efforts from the British Association’s 1938 committee through wartime interruption, unsuccessful requests for Treasury support and the Ministry’s National Planning Series, before private enterprise produced this atlas under D. P. Bickmore’s direction, assisted by D. A. Shaw. Its 200 pages of coloured maps cover the United Kingdom, mainly at 1:2,000,000, with regional enlargements and smaller distribution maps. It maps contemporary resources, leaving historical geography outside its scope; data chiefly come from the 1951 population census, 1955 agriculture and fisheries statistics and 1954 industrial statistics, with later figures for rapidly changing subjects. Stamp approves its preference for physical quantities and employment over monetary values. He praises original thematic treatments and specialist contributions, including the country’s first complete drift map, while questioning some contributor credits and the durability of fold-out source notes. He finds the pervasive circular symbols capable of conveying broad patterns while requiring effort to interpret detail. His principal criticism is that some maps attempt too much, particularly regional sheets combining relief, elevation and land use. Despite these reservations, he calls the atlas “monumental” and strongly recommends it for private and institutional libraries.
G.C.I. · 1963
G.C.I. reviews The Atlas of Britain and Northern Ireland (Oxford University Press, 1963), praising its extensive coverage and cartographic production. Its 200 map pages cover physical geography, agriculture, industry, population and communications, chiefly at 1:2 million, with regional maps mostly at 1:1 million and topographic maps at 1:500,000. The review describes twelve years of compilation directed by D. P. Bickmore with M. A. Shaw, involving Oxford and Cambridge editors, specialist contributors and government bodies; the editors report that much information appears here for the first time. Based on Ordnance Survey mapping, the maps use the Transverse Mercator projection, selective grid display, layered relief and land-use representation, and varied statistical symbols. The reviewer commends their colour, linework and lettering but cannot establish accuracy or completeness from a brief examination. A substantial discussion considers how readers can extract both general patterns and detailed information, acknowledging the effort required to learn unfamiliar map representations and the continuing usefulness of tables and text. In Australia, the reviewer expects chiefly scholarly and student use and recommends the atlas for reference, university, learned-society and cartographic libraries, with possible secondary-school provision. The review closes by calling for research into map use, particularly resources maps.
