John George Bartholomew

John George Bartholomew (22 March 1860 – 14 April 1920) was a British cartographer and geographer. As a holder of a royal warrant, he used the title "Cartographer to the King"; for this reason he was sometimes known by the epithet "the Prince of Cartography".

Bartholomew's longest lasting legacy is arguably naming the continent of Antarctica, which until his use of the term in 1890 had been largely ignored due to its lack of resources and harsh climate.

Biography Bartholomew was born on 22 March 1860 in Edinburgh to John Bartholomew Jr, a cartographer, and Annie Bartholomew . were issues from a planned five-volume series that was never completed. Before he died he was able to plan out the first edition of the Times Survey Atlas of the World; this and its succeeding editions represent the most successful atlas project of the twentieth century. John was a great friend of geographer and writer John Francon Williams. Correspondence between the two friends is held in the Bartholomew Archive at the National Library of Scotland. Williams also acted as a literary agent for Bartholomew in America, the UK and other territories in the world.

He handed the reins of the business to his son Ian Bartholomew (1890–1962).

Personal life

On 23 April 1889, Bartholomew married Janet "Jennie" Bartholomew (née Macdonald). The couple had 5 children, including the cartographer and geographer Ian Bartholomew.