Philp's 'Comic map of Scotland'
Bartholomew printed this map for Andrew Philp on 5 July 1882.
Andrew Philp was father to a family of Scottish hoteliers that included himself, his son and his daughter-in-law. Between them, they could boast of hotels stretching from Rothesay to London and from Glasgow to Edinburgh.
The apparent mirth of this map belies the fact that the Philp's were rather sober people — literally sober, in fact. They were known to be vocal supporters of the temperance movement in Scotland and all of their hotels were temperance hotels. (Information taken from 'Philp's comic cap of Scotland' by K Baker, 'The Geographer', summer issue 2011.)
Hand-drawn version of Philp's 'Comic map of Scotland'
This version of the map is entirely hand-drawn and painted. One of the most striking things about it is the similarity it has with the printed version (see next image). This is testament to the skill of Bartholomew's draughtsmen and printers.
Business ledgers from the Bartholomew Archive reveal the details of the original order. Bartholomew were tasked with 'designing and lithographing Grotesque Scotland. Furnishing 620 copies, printed in colours on coated paper'. The bill came to £7/15 [seven pounds and 15 shillings] which would be about £650 today.
Printed version of Philp's 'Comic map of Scotland'
Bartholomew printed this map on 5 July 1882.
Aside from additional detail in the margin, the map itself is largely unchanged from the hand-drawn 'proof' version (previous image).
