Rare Old Topographic Map of Switzerland by Bartholomew, 1922: Alps, Lake Geneva, Lake Lucerne, Zurich, Gotthard Pass
Restored in our London workshop from the original 1922 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.
Restored from the original 1922 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
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Gift message & custom finish
If you want to add a gift message, or a finish (jigsaw, aluminium board, etc.) that is not available here, please request it in the "order note" when you check out.
Every order is custom made, so if you need the size adjusted slightly, or printed on an unusual material, just let us know. We've done thousands of custom orders over the years, so there's (almost) nothing we can't manage.
You can also contact us before you order, if you prefer!
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Switzerland is the original title of this 1922 cartographic portrait, issued by the Edinburgh Geographical Institute and John Bartholomew & Co. for...
Continue readingSwitzerland is the original title of this 1922 cartographic portrait, issued by the Edinburgh Geographical Institute and John Bartholomew & Co. for the second issue of the 1920 edition of The Times atlas. It captures the Confederation at a moment when twentieth-century cartography was rapidly refining its language of precision and beauty. Hypsometric tints sweep across the country in graduated browns and greens, while spot heights prickle the high summits of the Alps, rendering the terrain with scientific rigor and painterly restraint. Clear frontier lines, exact toponyms, and carefully plotted railways and roads knit the Alps to the plateau and the Jura, guiding the eye from the Rhône’s run to Lake Geneva through to the Rhine’s great arc by Basel.
John George Bartholomew stands behind this synthesis of clarity and nuance, a leading Scottish cartographer whose imprint reshaped modern atlas-making. His color system—subtle in tone yet unambiguous in meaning—elevates relief from mere backdrop to the protagonist of the Swiss story, while his typographic discipline assigns cities, lakes, and ranges a legible hierarchy. The decision by The Times to adopt Bartholomew’s mapping for its 1920 edition marked a watershed: the atlas embraced a standard where scientific accuracy and elegant design were inseparable. In this sheet, the Institute’s workshop practice—meticulous compilation, consistent symbols, harmonized scales—achieves a poised, almost musical legibility.
The physical drama of Switzerland is rendered with uncommon fidelity. The high arcs of Valais and Graubünden parade their massifs—Mont Blanc’s near presence, the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa, the Jungfrau group—each articulated by bands of elevation and crisp spot heights. Lakes step across the landscape like polished mirrors: the crescent of Lake Geneva, the fjorded arms of Lake Lucerne, the length of Lake Zurich, the sister basins of Neuchâtel and Biel/Bienne. Rivers are disciplined threads: the Rhône coursing southwest, the Aare coiling past Bern, the Rhine gathering Alpine tributaries toward its bend at Basel. Passes—Gotthard, Simplon, Bernina—appear as natural hinges where valleys unlock the vaults of stone.
Political geography stands in firm, graceful counterpoint to the landforms. Cantonal borders are drawn with precision, their capitals and principal towns named and spaced to avoid clutter while preserving density of information. Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Lucerne, St. Gallen, Lugano, Biel/Bienne, and Neuchâtel anchor the network of habitation. Roads and railways trace the country’s famed connectivity, from the Gotthard and Simplon corridors linking to Italy through their tunnels to the web that binds the Plateau’s industrial towns. International frontiers with France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Liechtenstein are unambiguous, yet permeable to commerce and travel, reflecting Switzerland’s neutral poise and engineering prowess. A lucid legend explains the elevation palette and symbols with unmistakable economy.
Historically, this map embodies a turning point in early twentieth-century cartography: the union of empirical exactitude with visual harmony. Bartholomew’s approach rejects both cluttered encyclopedism and bare abstraction, allowing the Alps to announce themselves while granting infrastructure and polity their precise roles. Produced just after the First World War, it presents a Switzerland essentially intact in borders yet transformed by modern transit, tunneling, and tourism—an intricate landscape made legible to a global readership. The shaded Jura, the glaciated ridges, the lake-lit forelands, and the coursing routes converge into a single intelligible image, a testament to an atlas tradition that taught generations not merely where places are, but how they belong together.
Cities and towns on this map
- Zurich
- Geneva
- Basel
- Bern
- Lausanne
- Lucerne
- St. Gallen
- Lugano
- Biel/Bienne
- Neuchâtel
Notable Features & Landmarks
- Physical features: Mountains (including the Alps), valleys, lakes, and rivers prominently labeled and shaded.
- Political boundaries: Clearly marked borders delineating regions or provinces within Switzerland.
- Elevation indicators: Hypsometric tints and spot heights providing information on terrain elevation.
- Major routes: Roads and railways indicated, showcasing connectivity across the country.
- Legend: A detailed legend explaining the color codes used for elevation.
Historical and design context
- Date of creation: 1922
- Mapmaker/Publisher: J.G. John George Bartholomew, published by the Edinburgh Geographical Institute and John Bartholomew & Co.
- Notable context about the mapmaker: This map is part of the second issue of the 1920 edition of "The Times" atlas, which marked the first use of Bartholomew's maps in this series, indicating his significant contribution to cartography.
- Design/style elements: The map features a color palette that includes various shades of brown and green to denote different elevations and topography, with clear outlines for borders and detailed labeling of major routes.
- Historical significance: This map reflects the evolution of cartography in the early 20th century, symbolizing the transition toward more accurate and visually appealing map-making practices.
Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.
This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.
This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.
Please note: the labels on this map are hard to read if you order a map that is 16in (40cm) or smaller. The map is still very attractive, but if you would like to read the map easily, please buy a larger size.
The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.
The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.
If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.
Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.
This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.
This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.
This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.
For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.
Switzerland is the original title of this 1922 cartographic portrait, issued by the Edinburgh Geographical Institute and John Bartholomew & Co. for the second issue of the 1920 edition of The Times atlas. It captures the Confederation at a moment when twentieth-century cartography was rapidly refining its language of precision and beauty. Hypsometric tints sweep across the country in graduated browns and greens, while spot heights prickle the high summits of the Alps, rendering the terrain with scientific rigor and painterly restraint. Clear frontier lines, exact toponyms, and carefully plotted railways and roads knit the Alps to the plateau and the Jura, guiding the eye from the Rhône’s run to Lake Geneva through to the Rhine’s great arc by Basel.
John George Bartholomew stands behind this synthesis of clarity and nuance, a leading Scottish cartographer whose imprint reshaped modern atlas-making. His color system—subtle in tone yet unambiguous in meaning—elevates relief from mere backdrop to the protagonist of the Swiss story, while his typographic discipline assigns cities, lakes, and ranges a legible hierarchy. The decision by The Times to adopt Bartholomew’s mapping for its 1920 edition marked a watershed: the atlas embraced a standard where scientific accuracy and elegant design were inseparable. In this sheet, the Institute’s workshop practice—meticulous compilation, consistent symbols, harmonized scales—achieves a poised, almost musical legibility.
The physical drama of Switzerland is rendered with uncommon fidelity. The high arcs of Valais and Graubünden parade their massifs—Mont Blanc’s near presence, the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa, the Jungfrau group—each articulated by bands of elevation and crisp spot heights. Lakes step across the landscape like polished mirrors: the crescent of Lake Geneva, the fjorded arms of Lake Lucerne, the length of Lake Zurich, the sister basins of Neuchâtel and Biel/Bienne. Rivers are disciplined threads: the Rhône coursing southwest, the Aare coiling past Bern, the Rhine gathering Alpine tributaries toward its bend at Basel. Passes—Gotthard, Simplon, Bernina—appear as natural hinges where valleys unlock the vaults of stone.
Political geography stands in firm, graceful counterpoint to the landforms. Cantonal borders are drawn with precision, their capitals and principal towns named and spaced to avoid clutter while preserving density of information. Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Lucerne, St. Gallen, Lugano, Biel/Bienne, and Neuchâtel anchor the network of habitation. Roads and railways trace the country’s famed connectivity, from the Gotthard and Simplon corridors linking to Italy through their tunnels to the web that binds the Plateau’s industrial towns. International frontiers with France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Liechtenstein are unambiguous, yet permeable to commerce and travel, reflecting Switzerland’s neutral poise and engineering prowess. A lucid legend explains the elevation palette and symbols with unmistakable economy.
Historically, this map embodies a turning point in early twentieth-century cartography: the union of empirical exactitude with visual harmony. Bartholomew’s approach rejects both cluttered encyclopedism and bare abstraction, allowing the Alps to announce themselves while granting infrastructure and polity their precise roles. Produced just after the First World War, it presents a Switzerland essentially intact in borders yet transformed by modern transit, tunneling, and tourism—an intricate landscape made legible to a global readership. The shaded Jura, the glaciated ridges, the lake-lit forelands, and the coursing routes converge into a single intelligible image, a testament to an atlas tradition that taught generations not merely where places are, but how they belong together.
Cities and towns on this map
- Zurich
- Geneva
- Basel
- Bern
- Lausanne
- Lucerne
- St. Gallen
- Lugano
- Biel/Bienne
- Neuchâtel
Notable Features & Landmarks
- Physical features: Mountains (including the Alps), valleys, lakes, and rivers prominently labeled and shaded.
- Political boundaries: Clearly marked borders delineating regions or provinces within Switzerland.
- Elevation indicators: Hypsometric tints and spot heights providing information on terrain elevation.
- Major routes: Roads and railways indicated, showcasing connectivity across the country.
- Legend: A detailed legend explaining the color codes used for elevation.
Historical and design context
- Date of creation: 1922
- Mapmaker/Publisher: J.G. John George Bartholomew, published by the Edinburgh Geographical Institute and John Bartholomew & Co.
- Notable context about the mapmaker: This map is part of the second issue of the 1920 edition of "The Times" atlas, which marked the first use of Bartholomew's maps in this series, indicating his significant contribution to cartography.
- Design/style elements: The map features a color palette that includes various shades of brown and green to denote different elevations and topography, with clear outlines for borders and detailed labeling of major routes.
- Historical significance: This map reflects the evolution of cartography in the early 20th century, symbolizing the transition toward more accurate and visually appealing map-making practices.
Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.
This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.
This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.
Please note: the labels on this map are hard to read if you order a map that is 16in (40cm) or smaller. The map is still very attractive, but if you would like to read the map easily, please buy a larger size.
The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.
The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.
If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.
Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.
This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.
This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.
This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.
For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.
Many of our maps and art prints are chosen as thoughtful gifts for homes, offices, studies and meaningful places.
Choose a framed option for the easiest ready-to-hang gift, or choose an unframed print if the recipient may prefer to select their own frame.
We make orders locally in 23 countries around the world, so gifts can often be produced close to the recipient. This helps them arrive faster, travel more safely, and avoid customs or import duty surprises.
- We can deliver directly to the recipient
- Framed pieces arrive ready to hang
- Unframed prints are carefully packed in a strong protective tube
- Almost every order is made locally, for faster, safer gifting
- 90-day returns give the recipient time to decide
If you are not sure what to choose, please contact us. We can help you pick the right map, size, finish or delivery option.
Most orders are made locally and delivered in around 2–3 working days, depending on the product, size and destination.
We print and frame maps and artwork in 23 countries around the world, so your order is usually made close to you or your recipient. That means faster delivery, less time in transit, and no customs or import duty surprises.
Personalised and customised pieces usually take an extra 1–2 working days, because we prepare your design and send it to you for approval before printing.
Very large framed orders can take a little longer, as they need extra care in production and delivery.
Every order is carefully packaged: unframed prints are sent in a strong protective tube, while framed pieces are securely packed with protective materials around the frame.
If you need your order by a particular date, please contact us before ordering. We’ll check the best production route and delivery option for your location.
Express delivery is available at checkout for most countries. Next-day delivery is available in the UK, US, Singapore and the UAE.
Your order is covered by our 90-day returns policy and 10-year guarantee.
Our standard frame is a gallery-style black ash hardwood frame, with a simple, modern look. It is approximately 20mm (0.8in) wide. You can also view some lovely customer photos of framed maps and art.
We use super-clear acrylic glazing, also known as Perspex or Acrylite, instead of traditional glass. It is lighter, safer, and has lower reflectivity, giving the artwork a clearer, cleaner appearance.
Six standard frame colours are available at no extra cost: black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white, and antique gold. Custom framing and mounting/matting is also available for customers looking for something more specific.
Most maps, art prints, and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced wooden box frame, and then float the piece within a wooden outer frame. The finished result is beautifully presented, with no glazing between you and the artwork.
All frames are supplied ready to hang, with either string or brackets fitted to the back. Very large frames will include heavy-duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
We can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag, and other materials.
If you would prefer to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read our size guide before ordering.
Every Unique Maps piece begins with an authentic cartographic source or an original design from our London studio.
For our historic maps, we source rare originals from libraries, archives, auction houses and private collections around the world. We carefully restore each map for print—repairing age-related damage, balancing colour and improving clarity while preserving its original detail, texture and character.
Once restored, the map is prepared for your chosen size and finish. Your piece is then printed and, where selected, framed close to its delivery destination.
Our map prints use acid-free 200gsm archival matte paper and fade-resistant pigment inks, creating a rich, non-glossy finish designed to last. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
Canvas, cotton-rag and other specialist presentations are also available. Learn more about our materials and finishes.
Personalising your map
You can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. For personalised designs, we send a proof before printing and you can request changes before approval.
For more complex bespoke commissions, contact our design team.
Original or Aged
Choose Original for true-to-source colour, or Aged for a warmer, richer antique character created with our specialist ageing process. See examples of our Aged maps.
If you are not happy with your order for any reason, contact me and I'll get it fixed ASAP, free of charge. Please see my returns and refund policy for more information.
I am very confident you will like your restored map or art print. I have been doing this since 1984. I'm a 5-star Etsy seller. I have sold tens of thousands of maps and art prints and have over 5,000 real 5-star reviews. My work has been featured in interior design magazines, on the BBC, and on the walls of dozens of 5-star hotels.
I use a unique process to restore maps and artwork that is massively time consuming and labour intensive. Hunting down the original maps and illustrations can take months. I use state of the art and eye-wateringly expensive technology to scan and restore them. As a result, I guarantee my maps and art prints are a cut above the rest. I stand by my products and will always make sure you're 100% happy with what you receive.
Almost all of my maps and art prints look amazing at large sizes (200cm, 6.5ft+) and I can frame and deliver them to you as well, via special oversized courier. Contact me to discuss your specific needs.
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