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Sixteen years on from the publication of the First Edition, a Second Edition is now available from the London Transport Museum and book shops. |
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| This website was set up about two years before the First Edition of the book was published to see how much interest there might be in a proper book. There was. The Second Edition, published in 2024, builds on this and though the slip case and inner box of large poster sheets has not been perpetuated this time, nothing has been lost. This website has what was on the four posters in their own section. |
The Second Edition of the book includes the results of continuing research. (No historical research project is ever finished.) As a consequence of the book and this website, I was able to gain access to some long disused areas of Leicester Square station, which revealed surprising details, which are included in the new edition. I have also been able to expand the book and add a new chapter, bringing the lives of many of the stations up-to-date. |
I am very grateful to the London Transport Museum for their persuasion and encouragement to produce the new book, and also to Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill and former Commissioner of Transport for London (TfL), for his enthusiasm to write the foreword. |
The narrative that follows explains how the First Edition came about. |
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The publication of the book was a mini saga in its own right. Following discussions with six specialist, up-market, international publishers over a period of three years, I was getting weary of the same reply: “We love it. The quality of the research and production is just what we look for, but I am afraid it is just not commercially viable.” |
By good fortune I met one of the companies heavily involved in modernizing several London Underground stations. They wanted some copies and offered me a substantial amount of money in sponsorship if I decided to publish it myself. I looked at their work and found it to be to a high standard and therefore needed little encouragement and agreed. Discussions were also had with London Underground Ltd; Tim O’Toole (the then Managing Director in 2007) offered further financial assistance and also kindly wrote the foreword. |
I was therefore indebted to DMC Rail (www.dmccontracts.co.uk), London Underground and the London Transport Museum (www.ltmuseum.co.uk). Without all of their most generous financial support the book would have had to sell at over double the actual retail price of £50 per copy. In reality, it would probably not have got published at all. My genuine thanks are due to all concerned. |
Below are two of the double-page station realizations, each accompanied by a potted history of the station, scale plan and exterior building photograph from 1907. |
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This Edwardian architectural graphic communication puzzle, via extensive use of colour and geometry, also included various display typography. |
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