In his preface Bartholomew describes this a ‘pioneer work’ which had taken several years to prepare and which should properly have been undertaken by the government. It is certainly an extremely detailed and comprehensive atlas: there are maps showing the world trade in every conceivable commodity - from pearls to tobacco, via beer, ashphalt and wax - and of course recording the open trade in commodities such as ivory, feathers and opium which may seem exotic or barbarous (not to mention downright illegal) to the modern reader but were entirely respectable at the time. (Ornamental feathers were chiefly imported from Cape Colony, with France coming a close second.) The maps are supported by graphs and tables so that on one page are tables showing Britain’s imports of drugs - including licorice and opium (‘a pleasant narcotic’) - while on another one can learn that Greece was Britain’s largest supplier of currants and Britain was the fourth largest consumer of butter per head per annum. There are also gerneral maps showing population density, merchant shipping etc.