England & Wales historically annotated pictorial miscellany map. J.L. Carr 1973
SKU: P-8-006466
'A Map of England & Wales'
A large pictorial miscellany map of England and Wales by J. L. Carr, drawn during 1943 while the artist was serving with the Royal Air Force in West Africa. Undated, but believed to have been self-published in 1973 from his home press at 27 Mill Dale Road, Kettering, Northamptonshire. The map belongs conceptually to the celebrated series of county and national maps he produced between the 1960s and early 1980s. Deliberately non-navigational, the map functions as a visual anthology of national memory rather than a work of practical geography. It is densely populated with portraits, ships, buildings, coats of arms, historical scenes, and marginal texts, weaving together history, literature, religion, folklore, and anecdote in Carr’s characteristically antiquarian and highly personal style. Biblical quotations from Psalm 90 and John Donne’s “No man is an island” frame the composition, lending the map a pronounced memorial and elegiac tone. Scattered throughout are aphorisms such as those included to an Italian traveller's observation that “England is the paradise of women, a purgatory for men and hell for horses,” and a Frenchman's remark that “in England they have sixty religions and only one sauce,” alongside an ironic quotation attributed to John Milton, suggesting divine favour toward the English. These are balanced by homely and comic vignettes, most notably a mock recipe proclaiming that "Roast beef is the best meat for an Englishman." Naval lore and maritime epitaphs feature prominently. Printed and distributed privately, the map forms part of the distinctive body of work associated with Carr’s Quince Tree Press, now recognised as a singular contribution to post-war British pictorial cartography. Combining humour, nostalgia, and quiet commemoration, A Map of England & Wales stands as Carr’s most ambitious composition, inviting close reading as much as visual exploration.
Size 65 x 50 cm | 25.5 x 19.5 inches
Date Published: 1973
Type: Large 20th century pictorial miscellany map
Author: Carr, Joseph Lloyd
Publication: Joseph Lloyd Carr
Condition: Good |
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