A unique, unpublished proof copy of Harry Beck's revolutionary 1933 Underground pamphlet map, annotated and corrected by Beck himself and by his predecessor, Fred Stingemore. This one-of-a-kind document is one of the final drafts of Beck's map prior to its public release in January 1933. This proof must have been made between Harry Beck's meeting with the Publicity Department in 1932 and the end of that year.

The annotations show Harry Beck and Fred Stingemore working collaboratively to correct errors and make final changes to the map. These include adding back in the missing Metropolitan Line branch to Watford, suggesting a change of colour for the names of Waterloo and South Kensington stations, removing the Piccadilly line service from South Ealing station, and asking whether the official name of 'Willesden Green (New Station)' should be used.

Following Fred Stingemore's example, Beck employs circles for non-interchange stations on this draft instead of the much more elegant ticks adopted for the published version. The colour of the map's turquoise border is also derived from the Stingemore maps, though this would change to the dark blue on the official first edition.

The placement of several station names changes between this proof and the finished edition: Baker Street, Bishops Road, Great Portland St., Highgate, Oxford Circus, Wembley Park, and Wood Lane. Neasden & Kingsbury changes to just ‘Neasden’. The delayed opening of Cockfosters station led Beck to update his note about the Piccadilly Line extension from "Open Early 1933" to "Open Midsummer 1933". Finally, the colour of the Piccadilly Line would be changed from the light blue used on Stingemore's maps and in Beck's pamphlet proof to the dark blue in use to this day.

Only a handful of Harry Beck manuscripts survive, most of which are in the collection of the London Transport Museum, to whom they were donated by Ken Garland, Harry Beck’s biographer and close friend, in 2013.

Provenance: Ken Garland's personal collection.

Printed colour with manuscript additions. Framed. [LDN6953]