Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World: the Cartographic Fundamentals in Retrospect

Abstract

In time, space or purpose, the prospect of any close link between the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World [1] and the Historical Atlas of Canada [2] might seem remote indeed. As editor of the former, however, I instantly realized otherwise when first encountering the reflections of the director (Dean) and two editors of the latter (Cole Harris, Holdsworth) on their experience published in Editing Early and Historical Atlases: Papers given at the 29th annual conference on editorial problems, University of Toronto, 5-6 November 1993. [3] Naturally, to learn that in a quite different field others before you had wrestled with similar dilemmas, and had chosen to resolve them in broadly similar ways, is not enough to place your own choices beyond reproach. But such a discovery does offer reassurance; it acts to relieve a depressing sense of isolation, and demonstrates that your own painful choices need no longer be regarded as merely idiosyncratic.