1908 London Underground Map - Central London Railway Franco-British Exhibition Issue
Central London Railway To The Franco-British Exhibition - The Direct Line
Printed by Johnson & Riddle for Central London Railway. Colour lithograph on paper. Folded as issued. Measures 36cm x 25cm (open). Condition: Superb Lightly used example. Light handling marks on the cover. Some form of marker pen used to underline/strike out the ‘Franco British Exhibition’. Due to numerous examples of the this map I have seen with this strike-out I believe this was done at the time.
This vibrant map is a Central London Railway issue of the first official 'unified' map of the London Underground system that dates to mid- 1908. This is a special issue for the Franco-British Exhibition at Shepherd’s Bush. The wonderful cover design shows Britannia and Marianne bearing their respective national flags on board Captain Thomas Lovelace’s ill-fated airship flying over a silhouetted skyline of London. A small map of the Central London Railway is shown beneath. I say ill-fated because the airship exploded at the Exhibition killing Lovelace and four others in an “immense mass of flames”.
Unlike the common map issued by the UERL at the same time, this map doesn't carry the 'UndergrounD' wordmark, but instead "London Electric Railways". Gower Street is shown (renamed Euston Square in mid 1909) but Euston Road has been renamed Warren Street on this map, putting it it in the second half of 1908.
The early 1900s saw a rapid pace in the development of 'deep-level tubes' and by 1906, there were numerous Underground railway companies operating largely in isolation to one another to the detrement of themselves and confused passengers. In 1907, the four main London Underground railway companies, unified by their dire financial situation, came together and agreed to promote their joint interests as a complete Underground railway system. In April 1908, the first all-inclusive map design of the London Underground was approved and initially used by each Railway company under their own branding (like this example). It was later in 1908, in a bid to better present as one system, that the companies agreed to operate under a single “Underground” brand.
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Central London Railway To The Franco-British Exhibition - The Direct Line
Printed by Johnson & Riddle for Central London Railway. Colour lithograph on paper. Folded as issued. Measures 36cm x 25cm (open). Condition: Superb Lightly used example. Light handling marks on the cover. Some form of marker pen used to underline/strike out the ‘Franco British Exhibition’. Due to numerous examples of the this map I have seen with this strike-out I believe this was done at the time.
This vibrant map is a Central London Railway issue of the first official 'unified' map of the London Underground system that dates to mid- 1908. This is a special issue for the Franco-British Exhibition at Shepherd’s Bush. The wonderful cover design shows Britannia and Marianne bearing their respective national flags on board Captain Thomas Lovelace’s ill-fated airship flying over a silhouetted skyline of London. A small map of the Central London Railway is shown beneath. I say ill-fated because the airship exploded at the Exhibition killing Lovelace and four others in an “immense mass of flames”.
Unlike the common map issued by the UERL at the same time, this map doesn't carry the 'UndergrounD' wordmark, but instead "London Electric Railways". Gower Street is shown (renamed Euston Square in mid 1909) but Euston Road has been renamed Warren Street on this map, putting it it in the second half of 1908.
The early 1900s saw a rapid pace in the development of 'deep-level tubes' and by 1906, there were numerous Underground railway companies operating largely in isolation to one another to the detrement of themselves and confused passengers. In 1907, the four main London Underground railway companies, unified by their dire financial situation, came together and agreed to promote their joint interests as a complete Underground railway system. In April 1908, the first all-inclusive map design of the London Underground was approved and initially used by each Railway company under their own branding (like this example). It was later in 1908, in a bid to better present as one system, that the companies agreed to operate under a single “Underground” brand.
FREE UK DELIVERY. Non-UK Delivery available, please request a quotation
Central London Railway To The Franco-British Exhibition - The Direct Line
Printed by Johnson & Riddle for Central London Railway. Colour lithograph on paper. Folded as issued. Measures 36cm x 25cm (open). Condition: Superb Lightly used example. Light handling marks on the cover. Some form of marker pen used to underline/strike out the ‘Franco British Exhibition’. Due to numerous examples of the this map I have seen with this strike-out I believe this was done at the time.
This vibrant map is a Central London Railway issue of the first official 'unified' map of the London Underground system that dates to mid- 1908. This is a special issue for the Franco-British Exhibition at Shepherd’s Bush. The wonderful cover design shows Britannia and Marianne bearing their respective national flags on board Captain Thomas Lovelace’s ill-fated airship flying over a silhouetted skyline of London. A small map of the Central London Railway is shown beneath. I say ill-fated because the airship exploded at the Exhibition killing Lovelace and four others in an “immense mass of flames”.
Unlike the common map issued by the UERL at the same time, this map doesn't carry the 'UndergrounD' wordmark, but instead "London Electric Railways". Gower Street is shown (renamed Euston Square in mid 1909) but Euston Road has been renamed Warren Street on this map, putting it it in the second half of 1908.
The early 1900s saw a rapid pace in the development of 'deep-level tubes' and by 1906, there were numerous Underground railway companies operating largely in isolation to one another to the detrement of themselves and confused passengers. In 1907, the four main London Underground railway companies, unified by their dire financial situation, came together and agreed to promote their joint interests as a complete Underground railway system. In April 1908, the first all-inclusive map design of the London Underground was approved and initially used by each Railway company under their own branding (like this example). It was later in 1908, in a bid to better present as one system, that the companies agreed to operate under a single “Underground” brand.
FREE UK DELIVERY. Non-UK Delivery available, please request a quotation