Pageant of British Empire, Souvenir Volume. With an introductory note by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales; an anthology of British Empire by E.V. Lucas; illustrations by Frank Brangwyn, Spencer Pryse and McDonald Gill ; edited by Martin Hardie; with a preface by J.H. Thomas… [presented by the London and North Eastern Railway]

In the summer of 1924, visitors to the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley could view a ‘historical epic’ with a cast of 15,000 people, 300 horses, 500 donkeys, 730 camels, 72 monkeys, 1000 doves, seven elephants, three bears and one macaw. It took three days to see the whole performance.

This is one of the examples of the book presented by the LNER, specifically by the District Passenger Manager at Newcastle-on-Tyne, who has filled in the appropriate space on the first page. On the verso of the presentation leaf is an additional illustration for the LNER edition, Brangwyn’s ‘The Border Bridge’, advertising the east coast route to Scotland. The book is lavishly illustrated in colour throughout, while the folding plate depicts the pageant itself, for which Brangwyn designed the scenery.

MacDonald Gill worked on other projects associated with the Exhibition, such as Queen Mary’s Dolls House, and went on to produce striking posters for the Empire Marketing Board.

Condition & Materials

Folio. pp. 55 + four panel folding plate by Frank Brangywn, showing slight adhesion damage. Decorative printed boards designed by MacDonald Gill, who also designed the double-page map on pp. 20-21, ‘The world in the time of Cabot’. Some wear to covers, with an indentation to lower cover where the book has been at the bottom of a pile tied tightly with string

References

Walker: MacDonald Gill – charting a life, p. 169

OCLC: 154644057.

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British Empire Exhibition Souvenir feat. MacDonald Gill