Denmark

An amusing example of Victorian chromolithography.

This incredible anthropomorphic map of Denmark is a masterful incorporation of political commentary and geographical humor from the late 1860s. The image shows a somewhat unflattering representation of Princess Alexandra of Denmark (she would become Queen in 1901) taking a rest atop a pile of snow. Various islands are transformed into a whimsical cast of characters, most notably the island of Zealand, which features an interesting forked tail.

Accompanying verse offers further context – ”For Shakespeare’s Prince, and the Princess of Wales, To England dear. Her royal spirit quails; From skating faint, she rests upon the snow; Shrinking from unclean beasts that grin below” The first stanzas celebrate Alexandra’s union with Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and future King Edward VII. Those ‘unclean beasts’ below refer to territory lost (shrinking snow) to Prussia in the 1864 Second Schleswig War.

The caricatured geography was one of a dozen issued as part of Geographical Fun Being Humorous Outlines of Various Countries. According to the (suspect) preface, the images were originally drawn by teenager Lilian Lancaster to entertain and educate her sick brother while he was at home. Generally attributed to William Harvey, a London doctor operating under the pseudonym ‘Aleph.’ Printed in London by Vincent Brooks, Day & Son in 1869.