The New Times Atlas Completed: A Review

Summary

As the final volume approaches publication, C. Koeman reviews the five-volume Times Atlas of the World—Mid-Century Edition primarily from a cartographic perspective. He praises its traditional conception centred on geographical maps of uniform style, bright colours, accomplished hand lettering and manageable division into volumes. He recommends wider use of relief shading, criticizing the weak morphological expression of hypsometric tinting, inconsistent elevation thresholds and disappointing relief depiction in the Mount Everest inset. He also suggests that scribing could improve line work and lettering sharpness. Koeman welcomes the relatively large scales used for many non-European regions. Comparing Central Asian sheets, he identifies updates derived from recent Soviet cartographic material, while judging the maps in Volume II too heavily generalized for detailed study of the USSR. He criticizes some European scale choices, excessive settlement density and misinterpreted Dutch place names, recommending checks in the countries mapped. Despite these shortcomings, he strongly commends Bartholomew and the atlas’s cartographers for the work’s conception and craftsmanship.