Lilian Lancaster - Italy - 1868

by Vintage Map

Title

Lilian Lancaster - Italy - 1868

Artist

Vintage Map

Medium

Digital Art - Printed Map

Description

First published in "Geographical Fun, Humorous Outlines of Various Countries" by Hodder & Stoughton in London in 1868, the map of Italy here becomes synonymous with the populist patriot & leader of the so-called "redshirts", Guiseppe Garibaldi [1807-1882], a hugely influential figure in the struggle for Italian Unification, which was completed in 1871. Garibaldi had achieved celebrity status in Britain, where his most recent visit in 1864 had drawn massive crowds and widespread popular acclaim. Even today the legacy of that visit endures in the name of a still popular British biscuit. This map of Italy was one of a series of twelve European countries originally designed by teenage artist, Eliza Jane Lancaster [1852-1939], as a distraction to entertain her younger brother during a protracted bout of illness at home.The accompanying rhyming verses were composed by the London journalist, William Harvey [1796-1873], who worked under the pen name "Aleph". Eliza Jane subsequently became a popular British actress & comedienne, taking the stage name Lilian Lancaster. A pantomimne artiste on the British provincial stage during the 1870s & early 1880s, she even toured the United States with George Conquest's "Grim Goblin" Pantomime Company in 1880-1. It was here, at New York's Wallack's Theater, that she wowed American audiences with performances of the then popular comic song, "Lardy Dah! Lardy Dah!" during the all too brief, accident-prone run of Conquest's pantomime. After marrying a wealthy Yorkshire landowner in 1884, Lilian left the stage and retired to the country & a life of relative obscurity. Following her husband's early death in 1897 she became active again as a comic mapmaker & cartoonist. In 1912 she designed a series of charming pictorial maps to illustrate E L Hoskyn's popular children's book, a compilation of traditional folk tales & legends, entitled "Stories of Old". Lilian Lancaster died in London in August 1939.

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April 1st, 2020

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