ABSTRACT

This article examines an 1874 court case brought by the leading map-making firm W. & A. K. Johnston against the Athenaeum, a literary periodical, for publishing a review that criticized the quality of Johnston’s Edinburgh Educational Atlas. The review, by geographer Charles Tilstone Beke, impugned the reputations of mapmaker Alexander Keith Johnston and of the Johnston firm, questioning their credibility. Testimonials given at the trial reveal the complex circumstances behind the atlas and highlight the importance of credibility in atlas publishing at this time, as well as to Johnston and his reputation and to Beke as a reviewer and expert on the ‘Nile question’ and the geography of East Africa’s lakes.

摘要

本文研究了由领先的地图制作公司W.＆AK Johnston提起的1874年法院诉讼，该诉讼针对文学期刊Athenaeum，其发表的评论批评了Johnston的《爱丁堡教育地图集》的质量。地理学家查尔斯·蒂尔斯通·贝克（Charles Tilstone Beke）的评论对地图制造商亚历山大·基思·约翰斯顿（Alexander Keith Johnston）和约翰斯顿事务所的声誉不利，质疑它们的信誉。审判中的证明书揭示了地图集背后的复杂情况，并强调了此时在地图集发布中以及约翰斯顿及其声誉以及贝克作为“尼罗河问题”和地理学的审阅者和专家的信誉的重要性。东非的湖泊。