1951 Meyer / British Railways Pictorial Map of Britain

A charming c. 1951 pictorial map of the British Isles, drawn by Cecil Meyer for the recently-created British Railways, the product of the nationalization of Britain's rail network in 1947 - 1948.

A Closer Look

The British Isles, surrounding seas, and a portion of northwest France are included, with illustrations representing towns, cities, and landmarks, including Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, dancing clansmen in the Scottish Highlands, and the Government Buildings in Dublin. Red lines trace the lines of British Railways, as well as the small handful of railways not nationalized in 1948 and the railways of Ireland, which remained partially integrated and independent of British Railways despite partition in the early 1920s. The four countries of Great Britain are listed in cartouches adorned with representative flowers and coats of arms. Ireland is displayed as unified and seemingly as part of Great Britain, much to the annoyance of Irish nationalists, no doubt. Text used for the names of seas is done in the ornate style of early modern copperplate engraved maps. Surrounding the map are additional coats of arms of various British cities. The verso includes photographs and promotional text of the landmarks and cities visited by the rail network.

The Birth of British Railways

Both British Railways and the British Transport Commission referenced on the title panel on the verso were the brainchild of Clement Atlee's postwar Labour government. In fact, the nationalization of Britain's railways had begun several decades earlier, with the state taking over management of the railways during the First World War. In 1921, a Railways Act grouped dozens of existing private railways, most of which were facing financial trouble, into four large railway companies, each assigned a geographic region of Britain. After World War II, these 'Big Four' were fully nationalized, as numbers of passengers continued to decrease. The railways were privatized in the mid-1990s, though the logo and name British Rail (the name of British Railways after 1965) continue to be used in stations throughout Great Britain. In recent years, financial difficulties have led to a number of lines (such as the London North Eastern Railway and Iarnród Éireann in Ireland) being effectively renationalized as public corporations.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Cecil Meyer, designed at the 'Studio of C. and E. Leyton Ltd.' (likely the London printers Charles and Edwin Layton), and printed by D. R. Hillman and Sons for British Railways. The map is undated, and is sometimes erroneously dated to the 1930s, but, as discussed above, it must date to 1948 or later as British Railways did not exist until that time. The OCLC notes examples at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, the University of Michigan, and Utrecht University.