Kris Butler shares with us a map featured in her new book Drink Maps in Victorian Britain.
-By Kris Butler
Drink maps were created by anti-drinking groups to deter drinking, not encourage it. But you might not guess that when you first look at them, given that they exaggeratedly and colourfully show where to find a drink. What this 1877 map, called One Half-Mile Square in the Heart of London, lacks in colour it made up for in size. The original was a whopping 8 foot by 8 foot, floor-to-ceiling backdrop to a traveling temperance lecture given by Dr Thomas Nichols. This image is of the pocket version; the larger one is not known to have survived.
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