Guide Lines

Press, 7 September 1976, Page 31

Guide Lines

During the last two months a number of touragram enthusiasts have asked me which atlas they should invest in to assist them in their seemingly never-ending search for the correct answers. There are, of course, many on the market but the one that really appeals to me is Bartholomew’s World Atlas which is nftw in its tenth edition. John Bartholomew, who is director of the Geographical Insititute, Edinburgh, is regarded as one of the world’s finest cartographers and this is certainly reflected in the quality, detail, and finesse of his excellent publication which, for its price, should be on every bookshelf in the country. It contains far more than a mere collection of maps of countries and parts of countries. There are two full pages of geographical terms — did you know, for instance, that Hachures are those closely drawn lines that denote ground contours, or that the Mistral is a violent, dry cold wind of the Rhone Valley which acts as a funnel when a depression lies over the Mediterranean? All this and a wealth of other information is revealed. The Atlas also includes climatic tables, states and populations, the dates and routes of the explorers of the old world, astronomical geography, physiography, charts of temperature and air movements, rainfall and oceanography, ethnology, and maps that show economic development.

THE WORLD ATLAS, by Bartholomew. Published by John Bartholomew and Son, Ltd, Edinburgh. Tenth edition. 11l pages plus index (49 pp). New Zealand retail price, $13.95. (Reviewed by LES BLOXHAM) And for the serious student there are three pages of map projections in intimate detail. There are even instructions for making your own two-inch-and-a-half world globe. The general maps of countries are distinguished by the clarity and quality that only first-class colour printing can produce. Relief is brought out by contour-colouring employing as many as 17 different layers. Roads, railways, rivers, and political boundaries are all clearly shown, and the hour system of geographical co-ordinates allows anyplace to be quickly and accurately pin pointed after reference to the index. Incidentally, the index runs over 50 pages and lists more than 24,000 place names, including such far-flung rural spots as Karamea, Haast, and Cave. Perhaps two small and very parochial criticisms concern other details of New Zealand — in one map Christchurch appears in the same size type as Cape Palliser (compared with the much bolder names of Dunedin, Wellington, and Auckland), and in another, that showing the world’s air routes, only Auckland is connected with the rest of the world. Such criticisms are trivial; and are therefore dismissed. The Atlass is simply superb.