A French serio-comic map of Europe for the Great War

CRETE, B.

Carte Symbolique de l'Euope. Nouvelle Edition. Europe in 1914. Guerre Libératrice 1914-1915.
Paris: Editions Delandre, 1915. Tinted lithograph. Sheet 495 x 650mm.

Old folds, laid on archival linen.

A scarce caricature map of Europe as the First World War raged across the continent. The countries are represented by stereotypes, names in the 26-point key underneath. The main characters are France, depicted as Marianne riding a giant cockerel, stabbing Germany, a raging bull, in the head; Russia as Tsar Nicholas II, standing looking haughty with his crown on his head, goading Germany, egged on by Mother Russia; Austria is a graveyard with a fallen crown; and Britain is a battleship, being the master of the sea.
This new edition has been updated from the first issue: Italy has changed from a man playing a lute to a soldier with his rifle, as Italy abandoned its neutrality; and, replacing the original key, Turkey is now a man in a fez before the Hagia Sophia, killing women with a scimitar, probably a reference to the Armenian Genocide, as Armenia is depicted as a beautiful young woman just to the right.


Stock ID : 23347