1906 Perrier Motor Map of England
DESCRIPTION
A remarkable large-format motor map of England and Wales, produced when automobile touring was still a relatively new form of travel and sponsored by Perrier, “The Champagne of Table Waters,” neatly connecting the fashionable new culture of motoring with travel, leisure, hotels, and luxury goods.
Published by George Philip & Son of London around 1906, the map was designed specifically for motorists, emphasizing principal roads, towns, railways, and distances between important destinations. At approximately 57 × 46 inches, it provides an exceptionally detailed picture of the British road network before the introduction of the familiar numbered A and B road system.
Mapping Britain for the Early Motorist
The map covers England and Wales in extraordinary detail, extending north into Scotland and including portions of Ireland for geographic context. Principal motor roads are picked out in red, with distances marked between towns to assist travelers planning increasingly ambitious automobile journeys. The map itself states that it was intended as a clear and efficient guide to the motoring roads of England and Wales and had been prepared with consideration of the experience of prominent motorists.
An especially appealing feature is the large illustrated advertisement for Perrier French Natural Sparkling Table Water, prominently displaying the familiar green bottle beneath royal warrants and promoting Perrier as “The Champagne of Table Waters.” The sponsorship neatly connects the fashionable new culture of motoring with travel, leisure, hotels, and luxury goods, making the map as much an artifact of early automobile culture and advertising as a practical road map.
This example is particularly desirable for retaining its handsome original Perrier Motor Map case, along with the separate cloth covered boards labeled North Section and South Section that protect the linen mounted map when folded. The substantial case, boldly lettered in red, transforms what might otherwise have been an ephemeral road map into an impressive and remarkably complete survivor from the earliest decades of British motoring.
CONDITION
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