This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the whole list) o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o +
Dear Mrs H. SHAW, Maps at scale 1:25 000 have been adopted throughout Western Europe as a NATO standard for General Staff Maps before this standard evolved to 1:50 000 a few years later. This dates back to the early 1950’s. Before World War II, only Germany and the Netherlands in Western Europe have produced maps on a regular base at scale 1:25 000. French General Staff maps were at scale 1:80 000 at that time, Dutch General Staff Maps at scale 1:50 000. Belgian General Staff Maps were at scale 1:40 000 and as far as we are informed, British General Staff maps before World War II were at scale 1:63 360. It is likely that 1:25 000, 1:50 000 and 1:100 000 scales have been adopted by all NATO countries at that time, because maps of occupied Europe during World War II produced by O.S. were at these scales. But this would need further investigation to be ascertained. In Belgium, the scale of 1:20 000 has been adopted for all basic largest scale maps from the early years of the independence in 1830. Cadastral maps for each commune had been established at scale 1:5 000, with some enlargements up to 1:2 500 and 1: 1 250 in urban areas, and up to the years 1950’s, before aerial photographs became the basic material for cartography, all Belgian General Staff Maps were revised according to the last available cadastral maps and field surveys. >From a graphic point of view, the 1:20 000 scale is more interesting than the >1:25 000 one, because the 1:20 000 scale is the ultimate scale you can use >where most mapped objects can be reproduced at real scale, in other words, >without thickness drawing exaggeration. From that point of view most of the >topological objects figured on maps at scale 1:25 000 are symbolized and do >not reflect their effective scale. Belgian Staff Maps have been produced at scale 1:40 000 by scale reduction without generalization of 8 basic maps at scale 1:20 000 from about 1861 to 1949. Belgium being a relatively small country, densely populated, with a high industrial and mining activity level at that time, we could afford to produce basic maps at scale 1:20 000, General Staff Maps at scale 1:40 000 and generalized maps at scale 1:160 000 and 1:320 000 on a regular base, while for instance France had General Staff Maps at scale 1:80 000, and German basic maps were at scale 1:25 000 and General Staff maps at scale 1:100 000. Sincerely yours, H. LARDINOIS, Eng. Librarian – Map librarian of the National Geographic Institute of Belgium. ----- Mail original ----- A: [email protected] Envoyé: Mercredi 4 Mai 2011 07:48:19 Objet: [MapHist] Belgian 1;40,000 map scales De: "Rink W. Kruk" <[email protected]> Envoyé: Lundi 2 Mai 2011 09:39:06 Objet: Fwd: [MapHist] Belgian 1;40,000 map scales Cher collegues, J'ai reçu le courriel si-dessous, est-ce-que vous connaissez la réponse? Merci, Rink ----- Mail original ----- Van: [email protected] Aan: [email protected] Verzonden: Donderdag 28 april 2011 21:34:10 Onderwerp: [MapHist] Belgian 1;40,000 map scales This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the whole list) o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + I have a selection of medium scale sheet maps from various countries, analogous to the UK's O/Smaps at 1;50,000, 1;25,000. Almost all these sheet maps are at 'conventional' scales - 1;100,000, 1;50,000, 1;25,000. Except for a couple of Belgian maps - Anvers 1893, and Bruges and S E, 1913, both at 1;40,000. Anyone know why Belgium alone chose this unusual scale, or do I just need to get out to more 2nd hand map shops? Hillary Shaw Newport Shropshire _______________________________________________ MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. List Information: http://www.maphist.nl Maphist mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/maphist -- Rink W. KRUK Cartesius project leader The Cartesius project is a cooperation of the Royal Library of Belgium, the National Archive, the Royal Museum for Central Africa and the National Geographic Institute for bringing historical maps, photographs and other historical material online for the general public and the scientific community, by the creation of a common graphic geoportal. National Geographic Institute Abdij Ter Kameren 13 1000 Brussels BELGIUM e [email protected] t +32-(0)2-6298 217 c +32-(0)478-998434 f +32-(0)2-6298 276 -- Institut Géographique National Bibliothèque - Cartothèque Abbaye de la Cambre 13 B-1000 Bruxelles BELGIQUE T: +32.2.629.85.31 F: +32.2.629.82.12
_______________________________________________ MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. List Information: http://www.maphist.nl Maphist mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/maphist
