John Thomson (c. 1777 – c. 1840)
was a Scottish cartographer and publisher, active in Edinburgh in the early part of the 19th century. After his apprenticeship under the bookbinder Robert Alison he went into business with Abraham Thomson. Later they separated with Thomson segueing into maps and he became one of the leading publishers in the Edinburgh School of Cartography which flourished from about 1800 to 1830. He and his contemporaries John Pinkerton and John Cary redefined European cartography by abandoning decorative elements such as elaborate title cartouches and fantastic beasts in favour of detail and accuracy. John Thomson‘s basic work is „Thomson‘s New General Atlas“, published from 1814 to 1821.
Map Details
The main focus of this map which was engraved by William Dassauville is Denmark, with exceptionally detailed depiction of the topography, settlements and political boundaries. It includes insets of Iceland and the Faroe Islands on the left-hand side of the map, both in unusual shape of the frame.
The title „Denmark“ is placed in an octagonal cartouche in a region which is named „Part of Sweden“. Underneath are three distance scales. The author of the map is to be found underneath the neatline: „Thomson‘s New General Atlas“.
In the inset map of Iceland the title cartouche is positioned in an octagonal frame in the lower left corner.
The interior is divided into four districts („Nordland“, „Ostland“, „Sudland“, „Vestland“). On the map only very few villages are named, along the coastline mainly fjords.
Several glaciers (eg „Eyafialla Jokul“), the bishoprics Skalholt and Holar („Hoolum“) and „Mount Hekla“ are named but all without symbols. Astonishingly the island Grimsey is missing because the upper frame is set too low.
Many rivers and mountains ranges are depicted. Relief is shown by hachures, a technique providing a sense of the terrain‘s elevation and topography.
Although this Thomson map and Pinkerton map (No. 201) have been published in nearly the same year Iceland is depicted in different shapes.
Comments by the collector
This map from „Thomson’s New General Atlas“ (1814) is the youngest map in the Schulte Collection. Together with the map (No. 201) in „Pinkerton‘s Modern Atlas“ (1808 – 1814), they are the first maps in which Denmark and Iceland, its former colony for centuries, are shown together. Another reason for its acquisition is that Thomson also belongs to the Edinburgh School of Cartography which changed the style of mapping Iceland for several decades until Björn Gunnlaugsson & Olaf Nikolas Olsen published „Uppdrattr Islands“ in 1849.