British atlases made in the second half of 19th century belonged to the worlds best class, often beautifully decorated on the cover and spine. Compared to German Handatlases, where sometimes even up to 50% of the atlas maps dedicated to Germany, British atlases usually provided more detailed maps of all non-European countries. The most active and famous publishing houses were W. a K.Johnston, Blackie, Bartholomew or Philips.
