This is an astonishing map, in some ways about forty years out of its proper time. Light-hearted metaphorical* maps of Europe, so popular in the period 1854-1915, had all but ceased when the joke wore thin, in the early part...
This month is going to be all about Waterloo. I’m certainly expecting to see a healthy tranche of related material at this weekend’s London Map Fair. But I’m rather pleased with this separately published map we’ll have on our stand...
I’ve been writing about book provenance recently, but annotations on maps can be equally fascinating. Seventy years ago this map was used by a US artillery spotter during the battle of Iwo Jima. The US Marine Corps bore the brunt...
Provenance is a much abused term, or at least it’s much misunderstood. After poring over a Speed county map in the shop people will often turn to me and ask about its provenance. Only in exceptional circumstances can one track...
Leslie George Bullock (1904-1971) first cropped up on these pages a couple of years ago, in a post about pictorial maps of London. He created whimsical but informative cartoon maps for children, most notably perhaps his Children’s Map of London,...
I was delighted to have the opportunity to purchase a scarce map by Fred Rose, one which offers a few insights into Rose’s intentions when he created his most well-known map, his Serio-Comic War Map for the Year 1877.The latter...
Crétée’s scarce First World War caricature map has cropped up on this blog before, but I have now had the opportunity to compare the two versions side by side: It has laid to rest any lingering doubts I may have...
This map was conspicuously absent from the blog post on First World War satirical maps which I wrote over a year ago. “Hark! Hark! The dogs do bark!” is a famous image, but I didn’t have an example in stock...
In previous posts I’ve mentioned that there was an early flowering of cartoon and satirical maps during the Crimean War, but they rarely turn up and so I was delighted to acquire this example: "Done by T.O." which I think...
High time for another cartographic cephalopod. This one by Dutch artist Louis Emile Manche (1908-82) arrived in the shop just too late for this year’s London Map Fair, but I’m still pleased to have located an original example. Compare and...
The Atlantic was a key theatre in both world wars. The German aims were the same in 1914 and 1939: to sever Britain’s supply lines from North America without bringing a neutral United States into the war. These propaganda maps...
A very scarce satirical map, and one which I anticipate will be passing through my hands pretty quickly. However, as temporary custodian I can’t resist sharing it. It’s a delight. Cartoon or satirical world maps are an unusual form in...
