Gold Standard
The third generation 5-volume Mid-Century Edition arrived in 1955-1959 and became an instant classic. It presented readers with 120 full color double-page maps, 200,000 placenames, and all the trendiest places of note... such as rocket-launching locations and atomic energy installations.
In 1910, King George V appointed John George Bartholomew (1860-1920) Geographer and Cartographer to the King of Scotland. Bartholomew was the grandson of the founder of Bartholomew and Son Ltd., one of the most famous map publishers of all time. He co-founded the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, published atlases of world commerce, zoogeography (the Soviets weren't the only ones!), even a Handy atlas of the British Empire. He worked with the likes of Cecil Rhodes and Sir Ernest Shackleton to make maps of their discoveries. He helped pioneer map genres such as street maps, cycling maps, and road maps. He developed the method of colored contour layers. And though he died in Portugal before the Times Survey Atlas was published, he planned it out in its entirety.
Oh. And he named Antarctica.
