Poster To Poster

The Series of Books

The series of poster books will now number eight in total. They will appear at regular intervals over the next three years. Eight volumes, each of more than 250 pages, and featuring more than 300 posters per volume, allows many previously unpublished posters from Victorian to Modern Times to be seen as intended – an inducement to travel. Each volume has a regional focus (the first time this has been attempted) and the locations will be based on the older British county names rather than the modern administrative areas. This is in keeping with more than 80% of the classic images used. The books are largely colour-coded (where possible) to match the regional colours used by British Railways after 1948, will cover the following areas and counties:

 

Vol.1: SCOTLAND

All the counties of Scotland but using the former names when posters were popular (e.g. Roxburgh, Selkirk, Peebles, Banff etc.)

Vol. 2: YORKSHIRE AND THE NORTH EAST

Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire

Vol. 3: THE BRITISH NORTH WEST

Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, Cheshire, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Caernarvonshire, Anglesey, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man

Vol. 4: EASTERN COUNTIES OF ENGLAND

Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Huntingdonshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex

VOL. 5: MIDLANDS AND WALES

Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, plus Mid- and South Wales except those in Vol. 3.

Vol. 6: LONDON AND THE SOUTH EAST

London, Berkshire, Surrey, Middlesex, Kent, and Sussex

Vol. 7: THE GLORIOUS SOUTH-WEST

Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Scilly Isles and the Channel Islands

Vol. 8: ADVERTISING AND FOREIGN

General poster advertising, Informative posters, Ireland, Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and other locations advertised by British Railway Companies; the impact of Railway Hotels, Railway ships and Railway Air services, all of which featured on posters, will be included

Aims of the series

The books will showcase the posters as if the readers are taking railway journeys.  Not only will the posters be covered in more depth than before, but the history, geography and commercial aspects of each place visited will allow the book to be an educational travelogue, as well as a poster guide.  The central core of each book is the posters, carriage prints and original paintings contained therein.   Unpublished materials and posters will be used where possible.   Also featured at the rear of each  book will be a large poster database being jointly developed by Valerie Kilvington, Simon Kilvington and the Author, which has already taken many man-years of work so far.  Though not yet completed, the aim is to eventually develop it into a definitive listing of all the posters produced by the numerous British railway companies.

The books will assist in archiving and cataloguing by helping to remove small errors and anomalies in other research material.   Careful reviewing of the National Collection at York and material from other sources has allowed a more correct poster listing to be produced.  The books will therefore be of real use and interest to the professional collectors and the enthusiasts alike.