A National Atlas of Britain

E. G. R. Taylor outlines the preliminary national atlas proposal initiated at the British Association’s 1938 Cambridge meeting and discussed at its Dundee meeting. The planned atlas would bring together physical, human and selected historical maps for scientific investigators and general readers. Taylor emphasizes uniform base maps to support comparisons across subjects; the chosen basic scale was 1:1,000,000, with pages approximately 21 × 14 inches. She distinguishes existing maps and statistical material from subjects requiring further research or incomplete data, warning that tentative maps would need careful treatment to avoid misleading readers. She also identifies the difficulty of reconciling coverage of the British Isles with official data confined to national boundaries, leaving possible cooperation with Eire unresolved. The account records plans and outstanding problems, not the contents or achievements of the completed 1963 atlas.