L'Europe en 1876 a la portée des grands esprits. Serio-comic Satirical Map 1876
£1,220
SKU
'L'Europe en 1876 a la portée des grands esprits / Europe redressée'
This rare French serio-comic satirical map of Europe from 1876 portrays each nation as a symbolic caricature reflecting contemporary geopolitics. Denmark appears as a frog, small and pliant after its 1864 defeat; Britain, aloof on its island, a fishing rod extending to the eastern Mediterranean symbolising its maritime reach while its hook catching a crocodile near Crete suggest designs on Egypt and the Levant; Finland is a muzzled bear, gagged under Russian control; Turkey is a grotesque imp retreating eastward, embodying the “Sick Man of Europe” pushed back into Asia; Germany and Prussia sharpen their sword, a warning of renewed militarism; the Balkans sprout jack-in-the-boxes representing the volatile new nations—Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania—springing unpredictably from Ottoman collapse; and Sardinia, shown as a foetus in a jar, evokes Italy’s incomplete and malformed unification. Together these emblems form a complex Franco-centric allegory of post-Franco-Prussian-War Europe—ironic, anxious, and darkly humorous in its reading of continental instability and imperial ambition. The text around the outside of the map describes national stereotypes and characteristics in a comic manner., for example "Spain is in a very poor situation and manages its expenses very badly. Products — Guitars and Spanish furniture, products little valued abroad. Manners and customs — The inhabitants have the habit of smoking a great many cigarettes.", while the British are characterised as materialist pickpockets.
Size 42 x 58 cm | 16.5 x 22.5 inches
Date Published: 1876
Type: An antique French colour satirical map of Europe
Author: Barrey, Yves L
Publication: French Satirical Map of Europe
Condition: Good |
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