Discovering London

23/10/2023

How Fitzrovia Got Its Name https://www.peterberthoud.co.uk/post/how-fitzrovia-got-its-name

21/10/2023

The extraordinary sights of London mapped in 1830 - Miss Linwood’s Exhibition, The Apollonicon, The Peerless Pool and Panoramas galore.

Samuel Leigh's map, a Panorama of Remarkable Remarkable Objects in London, was designed to help visitors navigate the extraordinary sights of late Georgian London. With minor roads and features pruned from the map, the visitor was presented with a clear and focussed view of all the "must-sees" of th...

11/10/2023

Marvellously expressive faces by Charles Eade in this 1876 game of "Apple Pie" by Mullord Bros., Hoxton, London.

https://www.peterberthoud.co.uk/post/apple-pie-a-card-game-by-mullord-bros-1876

10/10/2023

Dunlop's Map of Literary London, 1950

Dunlop issued their attractive "Map of Central London and its Literary Associations" as a magazine advert and as a leaflet. The leaflet expands on the map's theme with additional notes. Below the map is divided into four, slightly overlapping, sections and beneath that are all eight panels of accomp...

04/10/2023

Francis Chichester's large Festival of Britain map & a few of his pocket-sized London guides.

In 1947 Francis Chichester first published his "Heart of London" pictorial map as a jigsaw and a folding map. In 1951 the map was greatly expanded in scope and was reused in different guides for decades. Francis Chichester's original 1947 Heart of London map covered a small and very central area. Cl...

26/09/2023

"Gerrymanders" an antique card game, that generated peculiar images a long time before Photoshop or AI.

https://www.peterberthoud.co.uk/post/gerrymanders-the-funniest-game-ever-invented-globe-series-c-1900

24/09/2023

In comparison to his other achievements Francis Chichester's maps and jigsaws are often forgotten. His splendid "Heart of London" map and jigsaw have never been fully documented online.

In comparison to his other achievements Francis Chichester's maps and jigsaws are often forgotten. His splendid "Heart of London" map and jigsaw have never been fully documented online. Francis Chichester famously completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe by yacht in 1967. In the 1920s he had...

22/09/2023

23 Conservative & 23 Liberal politicians caricatured in Henry Reason's 1886 "Game of Parliament".

https://www.peterberthoud.co.uk/post/henry-reason-s-game-of-parliament-1886

22/09/2023

Henry Reason's "The Game of Parliament" (1886) - 23 Liberals & 23 Conservatives battle to enact a programme of legislation. One of of the Conservative’s aims “A law to make every man mind his own business”, one of the Liberal’s “A Law to take the land from the Landlords, and give it those who shout the loudest.”.

Full details of this very rare card game here:

https://www.peterberthoud.co.uk/post/henry-reason-s-game-of-parliament-1886.

16/09/2023

The London Pub, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - An Antique Souvenir & an Unsung Hero’s Autograph.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese of London City. The Literateurs' Haunt for 300 Years or The Book of The Cheese This book was published around a century ago. If the current pub's owners were minded to produce a new version today they could get away with using the same illustrations. The Eight Edition of "The...

13/09/2023

I loved Struwwelpeter as a boy.

This is a Struwwelpeter card game, produced by the British publishers of the book in 1888, A.N. Myers of Berners Street London.

Struwwelpeter or Naughty children : A Merry Card Game for Good Children Published by A.N. Myers of Berners Street, London in 1888. Heinrich Hoffman's classic childrens book was first published in Germany in 1845. By 1848 an anonymously translated English version was being imported to Britain. A.N. M...

12/09/2023

The wooden streets of London in 1921 - a map.

In the early 1920s the Improved Wood Pavement Company issued a promotional map of London showing the extent of their wood paved roads, "The ideal road for heavy motor traffic." The map carries the boast that:"With very few exceptions the Wood Paving (Yellow) consists of CREOSOTED DEAL BLOCKS, and th...

01/03/2023

Weights & Measures - A Family Card Game from 1910 by Jaques & Son of Hatton Garden London.

https://www.peterberthoud.co.uk/post/weights-measures-an-edwardian-card-game

19/02/2023

An Edwardian Map of The River Thames from Westminster Bridge London to Thames Head in Gloucestershire.

All 29 sections, each oriented in a different direction, cartography by George Philip Ltd. Published by a founder of Chelsea Football Club.

https://www.peterberthoud.co.uk/post/an-edwardian-map-of-the-river-thames

23/01/2023

The first online guide to identifying every edition of Speed by Pepys, from the 1st Edition of 1938 to the "15th Edition" issued 50 years later.

Pepys were one of London's most significant games publishers of the 20th Century.

There are 11 editions of Pepys' Speed card game: 1st 2nd 3rd 5th 6th 7th 8th 10th 12th 14th 15th . There is no 4th 9th 11th or 13th edition.

10/01/2023

Between 1938 and 1967 Pepys of London produced 18 Games based on Walt Disney films or characters. This is a round-up of all 18 with links to more detailed posts.

Between 1938 and 1967 there were 18 different Pepys games based on Walt Disney films or characters. Card Games, Dominoes and a Party Game.

10/01/2023

A 1951 "Festival of Britain Souvenir Celery Vase" - doing what it was designed to do rather well.

09/01/2023

An updated post includes a guide to identifying and dating old Owzthat Cricket Games

Norman Cook of Manchester Patented and Trademarked Owzthat in 1932. How to Identify and Date Early Sets of Owzthat.