British Maps and Charts: A Survey of Development

Abstract

The report which follows on British map making and cartography, written at the invitation of the Royal Geographical Society on the occasion of the visits of the International Geographical Union and the International Cartographic Association to Great Britain for their conference this summer, is not an official report?the official report will be submitted to the ICA Technical Conference by the British National Sub-Committee for Cartography of the Royal Society?nor does it pretend to be comprehensive. It should be regarded merely as a collection of thoughts on this subject considered against the background of world cartography. Within the last five years there has been in Great Britain an increasing interest in maps and cartography, as is demonstrated, for example, by the numerous meetings, discussions and symposia which have taken place. In December 1960, the Council of the Royal Society, recognizing the increased attention that was being paid internationally to cartographic matters, approved the formation of a sub-committee for cartography to advise the National Committee for Geography on all cartographic matters and, in particular, to assist in the formulation of a British point of view in international cartographic proceedings, to encourage the exchange of ideas and experiences, and to advance cartographic knowledge in this country. Through the help of various private and governmental organizations, much has been done in the last three years to encourage the exchange of ideas and experiences. The Royal Geographical Society has reserved a section of its quarterly Geographical Journal, entitled 'Cartographical Progress*, to report purely cartographical matters. In 1960, a cartographic committee was established within the Royal Scottish Geographical Society to assist in the promotion of cartographic papers in the Scottish Geographical Magazine, and also to form a Cartographic Section for meetings and discussions on cartography. Since then, the Cartographic Section has organized a highly successful series of winter meetings. Elsewhere, a number of symposia have been organized by different bodies. The Ordnance Survey opened the series with a symposium at Southampton in Novem? ber 1961. There followed the symposium at Edinburgh University in September 1962 organized by Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities and, in 1963, the symposia at Leicester University in September and at Oxford University (Clarendon Press) in October. In March 1962, the Royal Geographical Society devoted an afternoon meeting to three papers given under the general title of 'Landmarks in British Cartography* and, in August of the same year, the British Association for the Advancement of Science (Section E) set aside a day for Cartography at their Congress in Manchester, as also did the Commonwealth Survey Officers at their con? ference at Cambridge in July 1963. At the Edinburgh Symposium, the first moves were taken towards the creation of a British Cartographic Society when Mr. J. S. Keates of Glasgow University under^ Brigadier L. J. Harris, c.b.e., is Director of Military Survey, Ministry of Defence.