Times Atlas of the World

Summary

The article traces the Times world atlas series from the German Handatlas tradition through successive changes in coverage, mapping and reference content. The 1895 Times Atlas revised Cassell’s Universal Atlas (1893), itself an English edition of Andree’s Allgemeiner Handatlas (1881). Its 117 map plates included 60 covering Europe, a balance the author associates with contemporary Eurocentrism and colonial aspirations; its index contained 130,000 place-names. Prepared over fifteen years by John Bartholomew & Son’s Edinburgh Geographical Institute, the Times Survey Atlas appeared in parts and as a complete volume in 1922. It expanded thematic mapping, used contours and coloring for relief, devoted 74 of 112 plates to the non-European world, and had a separate 200,000-entry Index-Gazetteer. The five-volume Mid-century Edition (1955–1959) improved geographic balance and introduced new projections; the author praises its cartographic achievement but criticizes its divided index. Difficulties maintaining five volumes prompted the single-volume Comprehensive Edition of 1967, with satellite-informed mapping, expanded astronomy coverage, thematic maps and statistics. The 1999 Millennium Edition, the tenth edition of the 1967 version, introduced distinct computer-generated maps and sixty-seven pages of illustrated introductory material. The author praises its maps and considers the introductory material suitable as a basic geography text.