Ireland

Scarce caricature map of Ireland. Original printed colour.


The poem in the lower margin of the map reads;

And what shall typify the Emerald Isle?

A Peasant, happy in her baby's smile?
No fortune her's, - though rich in native grace, -

Herrings, potatoes, and a joyous face.



"The young lady who is responsible for these Sketches is now in her fifteenth year, and her first idea of Map Drawing is traceable to a meeting with a small figure of Punch riding on a Dolphin, and contrived to represent England. The thought occurred to her when seeking to amuse a brother confined to his bed by illness. It is believed that these illustrations of Geography may be rendered educational, and prove of service to young scholars, who commonly think Globes and Maps but wearisome aids to knowledge, by enabling them to retain the outline of the various countries so humorously caricatured in the work, by associating them in their mind's eye with odd fancy figures. The bluffs and headlands of Scotland would be identified with the struggling Piper, and La Belle France with the grotesque looking madam dancing before a portable glass. Nearly every system of artificial memory supposes arbitrary way-marks, with which dates and events must be connected, and we have all remarked, when we are at a loss to recollect words or things, how vividly they are recalled when the mind is able to grasp objects associated with them, as a favourite book or a beautiful prospect. If these geographical puzzles excite the mirth of children; the amusement of the moment may lead to the profitable curiosity of youthful students, and imbue the mind with a healthful taste for an acquaintance with foreign lands. No history, no journal can be understood without a knowledge of maps, and good service is done when we make such information more easy and agreeable."
Extract from "Geographical Fun", being Humourous Outlines of Various Countries by Aleph.