"L'Europe Vue par un Aeronaute Impressionnable",
Subject: Europe
Period: 1897 (dated)
Publication: Le Pélerin
Color: Printed Color
Size:
12.7 x 8.6 inches
32.3 x 21.8 cm
This satirical map of Europe was created by Achille Lemot and depicts the continent after the Greco-Turkish War, also known as the Thirty Days War. The war was fought between the Kingdom of Greece and the Ottoman Empire over the Turkish-controlled island of Crete. This map illustrates the interesting tensions at the time by anthropomorphizing each country. The Sultan Abdul Hamid sits in Turkey with a hookah in one hand and a scimitar in the other, thrusting it toward Greece. Russian Tsar Nicholas II looms large above Russia, serving as a symbolic guardian of Eastern/Orthodox Christianity, and putting out a hand to halt the advancements of a Prussian soldier. The Russian Tsar had been instrumental in ending the hostilities between the Greeks and Turks. Strained relations are also evident in the Balkans, where neighboring countries point guns and canons at one another. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is linked in chains with Germany and Italy. Further west the countries appear largely peaceful, with Queen Victoria representing England, dancers and musicians in Spain, and a vexed Mariane representing France, holding Alsace in her arm, which had been annexed by Prussia as a result of the Franco-Prussian War. A very rare piece. French advertisements on verso.
Le Pélerin, which translates as "the pilgrim," was first published in 1873 as a Catholic weekly newsletter that was created to share news of the first national pilgrimage to Lourdes. Achille Lemot (1846-1909) was a French illustrator and caricaturist who worked for several satirical magazines in Paris, including Le Monde Pour Rire.
References:
Condition: B+
Lightly toned with a small stain near Iceland.