John Bartholomew, Sr.

Who was John Bartholomew, Sr.?

John Bartholomew, Sr. was a Scottish cartographer and engraver.

The son of George Bartholomew, John founded the engraving and mapmaking firm of John Bartholomew and Son Ltd. in 1826.

He was a veritable master copper plate engraver. He engraved some fine maps for local firms, such as street maps for Lizars, others for the Encyclopædia Britannica and for some educational publishers like A & C Black. He was commissioned to engrave the map of Treasure Island for Robert Louis Stevenson.

John Sr. was the ideal person to inaugurate what became one of the most admired cartographic institutions in the world. A man of high standards, as were his successors; he was a superb engraver, engraving becoming the foundation of the firm; lithography would follow later. He also had the vision to recognise the potential for the firm. He was a shy man, holding back from public life.

In 1859, shortly before he died, John Senior passed the business on to his son John Bartholomew Junior.