Bacon, G. W. & Co.

Bacon's Four Inch Map of Central London [Linen-Backed Folding Map — London Underground & Transit]

London and Edinburgh: G. W. Bacon & Co., 1940.

LONDON ON THE EVE OF WARTIME TRANSFORMATION.
A large linen-backed folding map of Central London published in 1940, combining a detailed street plan with London's transportation network. At four inches to the mile, the map extends across the capital on both sides of the Thames, marking Underground and other railways, main roads, bus and tram routes, parks, stations and public institutions.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: FORTY PANELS ON LINEN.
Large color map measuring approximately 40 by 29.5 inches, dissected into 40 panels and mounted on linen, folding into cloth-covered boards measuring 7.5 by 5 inches.

Titled Bacon's Map of Central London, scale four inches to one mile. The map is divided into half-mile squares and circles from Charing Cross. Its key identifies Underground railways, other railways, main roads with bus and tram routes, council schools, county courts and police courts. Parks and open spaces are printed in green, the Thames in blue, with principal roads and transportation routes differentiated by color.

Front board printed with a schematic Underground Plan of London, including the London Underground Transport roundel and the statement By permission of London Transport.

CONDITION: VERY GOOD. Map remains clean and well preserved, with colors distinct and linen backing sound. Fold lines remain flexible. Light age-toning and handling consistent with use. Exterior boards show light wear and some toning; cloth spine and interior cloth remain sound.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: A TRANSPORTATION PORTRAIT OF LONDON IN 1940.
Published in 1940, the map records London at an unusually consequential moment. Its detailed street plan is overlaid with the transportation systems through which the city functioned: Underground and surface railways, bus routes, tramways and major roads.

TWO WAYS OF SEEING THE CITY.
The object also juxtaposes two distinctly different forms of urban cartography. Bacon's large map represents London geographically, street by street, while the Underground diagram reduces the city to an easily navigated network of stations and connections. Together they document the increasingly transportation-centered way in which residents and visitors experienced twentieth-century London.

SUBJECTS: London England, London Underground, G. W. Bacon, Vintage 1940 London, British Cartography, Underground Railways, Tram Routes, Bus Routes, Linen-Backed Maps, Cartography, Folding Maps, City Maps, Transportation Maps, Travel Ephemera, Urban History, Railway Maps, Transit Maps.

Item #22494

Price: $45.00