1928 The Wonderground Map of London Town
DESCRIPTION
One of the most iconic pictorial maps of the twentieth century, MacDonald Gill's celebrated Wonderground Map turns London into an enormous visual playground filled with jokes, landmarks, Underground stations, historical references, and countless scenes of everyday life.
Exploring London by Underground
Originally designed by Leslie MacDonald “Max” Gill for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, the Wonderground Map grew from a poster commissioned by Frank Pick in 1913 to encourage Londoners to use the Underground not simply for commuting, but for leisure and exploration. The design proved enormously popular and was soon adapted for sale to the public. Rather than attempting geographic precision, Gill presents London as a sprawling medieval city, with bold yellow roads, bright red and blue Underground stations, coats of arms, parks, monuments, and hundreds of figures engaged in humorous activities.
The pleasure of the map lies in its extraordinary detail. Gill fills nearly every corner with visual jokes, puns, literary references, snippets of history, and observations about London life. Familiar landmarks such as Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London, Hyde Park, and the city's railway terminals mingle with theatres, shops, sporting grounds, neighborhoods, and the Underground network. Even the decorative border participates in the design, framing London with borough coats of arms and the proclamation, “The Heart of Britain's Empire Here Is Spread Out For Your View.”
The Greyhound 3rd State Identified
This example represents the third and final state, issued around 1927–28. The states can be distinguished by a small triangular area in the upper left, immediately above the banner reading “On to Wembley.” Houses appear there on the original 1914 issue, while the 1924 edition replaces them with a British Imperial Lion in connection with the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. On this final state the lion has been replaced by a racing greyhound, reflecting the introduction of greyhound racing at Wembley in December 1927. The change provides a convenient visual marker for identifying this later edition.
Gill's Wonderground Map was far more than a novelty. Its combination of cartography, illustration, advertising, humor, and storytelling helped demonstrate how a map could encourage people to experience a city rather than simply navigate it. Its success contributed to the growing popularity of pictorial maps during the following decades and helped establish Gill as one of the most influential British graphic mapmakers of the early twentieth century.
CONDITION
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