Map of the Underground Electric Railways of London
Map
1907 (designed)
1907 (designed)
The Underground Electric Railways of London is the precursor of today’s London Underground. It consisted of three tube lines which form the central section of today’s Bakerloo, Northern and Piccadilly lines.
Printers for the London Underground Tube maps worked with a team of lithographic artists. They played an important role in maintaining the high standards required by London Transport in the production of its posters. London Transport regularly used the same few printing firms, however, in this occasion they used different printers. This map was manufactured by the printing company, Johnson, Riddle &Co. Ltd.
The ‘Tube Map’ was distributed free by the Evening News London newspaper. This unofficial 1907 version of the map introduced the innovation of coloured tube lines. However, the earliest UERL maps were printed in only two colours or in monochrome, simply distinguishing between the UERL lines and those of its rivals. This map shows the Strand and Paddington sections as still under construction. The third and final UERL issue of 1907, printed by Johnson Riddle & Co, shows Strand Station as open while the Paddington extension is still under construction. The green border would become a distinctive feature of Edwardian UERL maps, but the Underground Group lines are represented in bold; colour coding on official maps was not introduced until the following year, 1908, when Waterlow and Sons also produced a striking postcard, with colour coded lines reversed from a black background.
This 1907 map is useful to show the origins of the design of the London underground maps which were originally not colour coded and more geographically and topologically accurate as opposed to the maps in use today which show simplified networks and were created by Harry Beck in the 1930s. This map shows an example of early branding before the more distinctive “London Underground” example.
This map was acquired as part of the Shekou Project, an international partnership between the V&A and China Merchant Shekou Holdings (CMSK) to open a new cultural platform called Design Society in Shekou. It was included in the inaugural exhibition, ‘Values of Design’, in the V&A Gallery at Design Society as an example communication and conveying information in design practice.
Printers for the London Underground Tube maps worked with a team of lithographic artists. They played an important role in maintaining the high standards required by London Transport in the production of its posters. London Transport regularly used the same few printing firms, however, in this occasion they used different printers. This map was manufactured by the printing company, Johnson, Riddle &Co. Ltd.
The ‘Tube Map’ was distributed free by the Evening News London newspaper. This unofficial 1907 version of the map introduced the innovation of coloured tube lines. However, the earliest UERL maps were printed in only two colours or in monochrome, simply distinguishing between the UERL lines and those of its rivals. This map shows the Strand and Paddington sections as still under construction. The third and final UERL issue of 1907, printed by Johnson Riddle & Co, shows Strand Station as open while the Paddington extension is still under construction. The green border would become a distinctive feature of Edwardian UERL maps, but the Underground Group lines are represented in bold; colour coding on official maps was not introduced until the following year, 1908, when Waterlow and Sons also produced a striking postcard, with colour coded lines reversed from a black background.
This 1907 map is useful to show the origins of the design of the London underground maps which were originally not colour coded and more geographically and topologically accurate as opposed to the maps in use today which show simplified networks and were created by Harry Beck in the 1930s. This map shows an example of early branding before the more distinctive “London Underground” example.
This map was acquired as part of the Shekou Project, an international partnership between the V&A and China Merchant Shekou Holdings (CMSK) to open a new cultural platform called Design Society in Shekou. It was included in the inaugural exhibition, ‘Values of Design’, in the V&A Gallery at Design Society as an example communication and conveying information in design practice.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Map of the Underground Electric Railways of London |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | 1907 Underground Electric Railways of London map (UERL) map. |
| Physical description | A topographical map of London showing the electric railway lines. The Underground Electric Railways of London are shown in black, and the other rival underground lines in red. There is a key on each side of the map listing the stops on each line. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Object history | This map was included in ‘Values of Design’ at the V&A Gallery, Design Society in Shenzhen, China in 2017. |
| Summary | The Underground Electric Railways of London is the precursor of today’s London Underground. It consisted of three tube lines which form the central section of today’s Bakerloo, Northern and Piccadilly lines. Printers for the London Underground Tube maps worked with a team of lithographic artists. They played an important role in maintaining the high standards required by London Transport in the production of its posters. London Transport regularly used the same few printing firms, however, in this occasion they used different printers. This map was manufactured by the printing company, Johnson, Riddle &Co. Ltd. The ‘Tube Map’ was distributed free by the Evening News London newspaper. This unofficial 1907 version of the map introduced the innovation of coloured tube lines. However, the earliest UERL maps were printed in only two colours or in monochrome, simply distinguishing between the UERL lines and those of its rivals. This map shows the Strand and Paddington sections as still under construction. The third and final UERL issue of 1907, printed by Johnson Riddle & Co, shows Strand Station as open while the Paddington extension is still under construction. The green border would become a distinctive feature of Edwardian UERL maps, but the Underground Group lines are represented in bold; colour coding on official maps was not introduced until the following year, 1908, when Waterlow and Sons also produced a striking postcard, with colour coded lines reversed from a black background. This 1907 map is useful to show the origins of the design of the London underground maps which were originally not colour coded and more geographically and topologically accurate as opposed to the maps in use today which show simplified networks and were created by Harry Beck in the 1930s. This map shows an example of early branding before the more distinctive “London Underground” example. This map was acquired as part of the Shekou Project, an international partnership between the V&A and China Merchant Shekou Holdings (CMSK) to open a new cultural platform called Design Society in Shekou. It was included in the inaugural exhibition, ‘Values of Design’, in the V&A Gallery at Design Society as an example communication and conveying information in design practice. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.2791-2016 |
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| Record created | May 12, 2016 |
| Record URL |
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