| Method | Chromolithograph |
| Artist | Lee, Kerry |
| Published | Designed by Kerry Lee. Published by Pictorial Maps Ltd, Blandford Studio, 71 Blandford St, London, W.1. Printed by Chromoworks Ltd. in Gt. Britain. Copyright in All Countries [London, c.1951] |
| Dimensions | 542 x 665 mm |
| Notes |
A decorative mid-century tourist map of London and Westminster, a reduced version of the much larger quad-royal map published for British Railways. This particular example, published by Pictorial Maps Ltd, is in the smaller double-royal format, revised for the Festival of Britain in 1951. In addition to the decorative frame around the outside of the map, the roundel of Epsom is here replaced with a vignette of the Royal Festival Hall, and the original logo for the Travel Association of Great Britain has been replaced with the Festival of Britain's crest, designed by Abram Games. Like Kerry Lee's other maps, the map is crammed full of vignettes, cartoons, and notes of historic, social, cultural, and natural interest. The names of main roads, attractions, and train stations are emblazoned across the map in ribbons, while notable people from London's history are shown in places associated with them. Under the map's title, an inscription from one of Churchill's Blitz speeches reads 'We would rather see London in ruins and ashes, than that it should be tamely and abjectly enslaved,' a clear nod to Lee's and the publishers' intentions to foster and renew tourism as part of the recovery effort following the Second World War. Surrounding the map, a highly decorative border features vignettes of places further afield. Kerry Ernst Lee (1903-1988) was a British artist, born in Hackney, best known for a series of chromolithograph advertising posters issued by British railways, designed and used to help promote British tourism after the second world war. He attended Reading Schools of Arts and Science, the Slade, and the Sorbonne in Paris. Many of Kerry Lee's maps depict the artist sitting sketching in the corner, with his dog beside him. Abram Games (1914-1996) was a British poster artist and graphic designer, and one of the most celebrated and influential propagandists of the twentieth century. He served as Official War Artist from 1942, and worked on campaigns for many other enterprises, including Shell, the General Post Office, British Airways, Guinness, and London Transport. Condition: Minor foxing, creasing, and small tears to margins, not affecting image. Old adhesive tape and waterstaining to verso, otherwise blank. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £600.00 |
| Stock ID | 52801 |