Rare Harry Beck tube maps going on display next month
An exhibition of rare tube maps, including some annotated by Harry Beck, will be on display next month before being offered for sale.
The exhibition, by The Map House in central London, will showcase the most significant collection of Beck manuscripts ever offered for sale, some of which Beck gifted to his friend and biographer Ken Garland.
Highlights of the exhibition will include a one-of-a-kind draft copy of Harry Beck’s first Underground map, annotated by Beck and his predecessor Fred Stingemore, which highlights some of the tricky design questions he had to overcome, such as whether to use the official name of ‘Willesden Green (New Station)’ or stick with a simplified ‘Willesden Junction’
There’s also an exceedingly rare 1st Edition Underground Poster (1933), of which only 5 copies of the original 2,000 are known, and a unique, unfinished sketch from 1950 drawn in coloured pencil showing a proposed new layout for the District Line branch to Richmond.
The exhibition will run from 25th October to 30th November open Mon to Sat.
The exhibition Mapping the Tube: 1863-2023 will be free to visit at The Map House on Beauchamp Place, near Harrods in Knightsbridge.
Update 24th Sept — clarified the sale.
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