January 2019 book review

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, by Charles Dickens
Upon the unexpected death of his father, a well brought-up young man finds himself penniless and needing to find his own way in the world. His beginnings are not auspicious. Advised by his miserly uncle to become a teacher at a school in Yorkshire, he quickly realises he has a monster for a boss. For the headmaster, one Wackford Squeers, esq, is the one of the most evil and sadistic characters Dickens ever created. And he didn’t have to try too hard, because Squeers is based on a real schoolmaster, William Shaw, who allowed three boys in his care to die of malnutrition back in the 1830s.

Dickens was just warming to his task when he wrote this, his third novel, and signs of his coming greatness are already apparent. Although some have criticised the lack of development of its female characters, there can be no argument about the men, who are all powerfully drawn, from Nicholas himself, with his epic struggles to make something of himself, through Squeers and his no less evil family, to Smyke, the young lad Nicholas befriends at “Dotheboy’s School” (geddit?) who has been literally enslaved by Squeers. Eminently readable.

ATLAS: A WORLD OF MAPS FROM THE BRITISH LIBRARY, curated by Tom Harper.
I like a good map, me. Therefore it is scarcely surprising that I was thoroughly engrossed in this collection of a hundred or so maps in the possession of the British Library, from medieval world maps drawn in the eleven hundreds to a wonderfully sarcastic imaginary map of artistic achievement created by Grayson Perry just a few years ago.

Tom Harper has chosen his maps well, offering the map freak a wide variety of different charts to study. There’s a map drawn by Admniral Nelson himself, depicting the battle of Trafalgar. There are route maps to guide the pilgrim to Rome or Santiago Compostella. There are extraordinary “3D” maps from China, and of course several examples of ‘Mappa Mundi’ from before the renaissance - not that that stops them being extraordinarily accurate in many details. If you like a map, you’ll love this.

MAP ADDICT, by Mike Parker.
Mike Parker, it may be fairly said, is one of those people who likes a map. All maps, but Ordnance Survey maps in particular. For this book is a history of the OS, from its beginnings in the late 18th century when it was felt the country needed good maps of the south of England should there be an invasion by old Boney, to the present, where detailed and beautiful maps are available of every corner of the UK.

But it is also the story of Mike himself, who, when but a kid was so obsessed by the idea of collecting all 204 in the series of 1 in 50,000 OS maps, but without the funds to afford them, would journey into his local WH Smith’s every weekend and half-inch one or two of them. True story.

I found I had a lot in common with Mr Parker; indeed, I would greatly enjoy the chance to have dinner with him, when we could discuss our shared obsession. Like, for instance, the fact that one of his favourite atlases is the Reader’s Digest Atlas of the British Isles, and has been since it was brought out in the 1960s. Same here. I still have my, admittedly rather dog-eared copy to this day.

This is not an outstanding work of literature, but it is a fascinating journey through the world of maps generally and the OS in particular. I for one got a great deal of pleasure from it. How about dinner, Mike?

MAPPA MUNDI: HEREFORD’S CURIOUS MAP, by Sarah Arrowsmith
OK, I’ll admit it, this is map month. And having read the books already described, I thought I should take another look at one of the most famous maps in the world, having not seen it for over 40 years. Housed in Hereford Cathedral (They were strapped for cash back in the 80s and were nearly on the point of selling it until Paul Getty slung ‘em a cool million to keep it where it was), and drawn in the late 13th century, it offers a unique window into the hearts and minds of medieval Man.

Like all ancient maps, this one is circular (don’t make the mistake of thinking that means they thought the Earth was flat. Educated people didn’t) and centred, as most are, on Jerusalem. Britain can be found, out on the fringes of the map (made from a single piece of vellum and still in remarkably good shape), while over on the other side is India with the little pearl of Ceylon just below it. And in between the locations can be found numerous illustrations of imaginary beats, including unicorns, basilisks and the Bonnocon, a beast capable of deflecting poisonous shit over an area of 3 acres. How do we know this? Because the picture is accompanied by a text in Anglo-French, the lingua Franca of the day.

Lavishly illustrated, this is definitely one of the better ‘guide books’ to be found in any given gift shop. Strongly recommended, as is the visit to the great Cathedral that houses this remarkable treasure.