Gold medal awarded to geographer sells for nearly £40,000
The Royal Geographical Society Patron’s Medal was awarded to Alexander Keith Johnston in 1871.
news.stv.tvAlexander Keith Johnston (1804–1871) was a Scottish geographer and cartographer; there is also a later figure, Alexander Keith Johnston (1844–1879), who continued his father’s cartographic work. Here’s a concise update on the two figures and the most recent notable items connected to their legacies.
Who they were
- Alexander Keith Johnston (1804–1871): A prominent Scottish geographer and cartographer who produced influential atlases and gazetteers, and who served as a key figure in the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and related institutions. He died in 1871 in Yorkshire and is buried in Edinburgh.
- Alexander Keith Johnston (1844–1879): Son of the elder Johnston, he carried on the family map-publishing business and contributed to 19th-century cartography, including work on maps and atlases. He died after a short expedition period in Africa, reportedly of malaria/dysentery, while accompanying a Royal Geographical Society expedition; his activities are documented in source materials about the Johnston map legacy.
Recent notes and context
- A recent auction news item highlights the legacy of the Johnston family in geography: the Royal Geographical Society Patron’s Medal, originally awarded to the elder Alexander Keith Johnston in 1871, was mentioned in a modern news piece tied to a gold medal sale. This underscores the lasting recognition of his contributions to physical geography and mapping.
- Biographical references for the elder Johnston appear in multiple reputable sources, including encyclopedias and biographical dictionaries, and the family is frequently cited as central to 19th-century British cartography.
- The pair are sometimes discussed in context with the broader Johnston map-publishing enterprise, which producedThe Royal Atlas of Modern Geography and other major works in the mid-19th century.
Illustration
- Example: The Johnston family’s map tradition is often illustrated by reference to The Royal Atlas of Modern Geography (1861) and related works, which exemplify mid-19th-century cartographic methods and presentation.
Notes
- If you’d like, I can pull together a short, sourced timeline for the two Alexanders with key publications and milestones, or locate high-resolution images of some of their most famous maps.