[PROPAGANDA MAP CARD OF THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR] [Map of Japan] No 873 Geographical Series. Engraved by J. Bartholomew & Co.
JOHN WALKER & CO. LTD. (Publisher).
John Walker & Co. Ltd., [London - Edinburgh, 1904].
Original chromo-lithographed map. 9x14 cm. In English. Posted with a stamp of “Willesden S. O. N. W., 04” and handwritten on verso: “March 14, 1904. I think this card is well got up. I hope you will hear soon from France. Then tomorrow you will be out to Lea, A. J.” Posted to Miss Temple in Harlesden in 1904. Postal stamped. The top right and left corners slightly are bumped. Otherwise, a fine card.
Original chromo-lithographed propaganda map card of the Russo-Japanese War from the "Geographical Series" seemingly served as a playbill, allowing the British public to learn the actors and locales of the Russo-Japanese War involved in contemporary news accounts. This map shows the region centred on Korea and showing Russian territorial holdings, including Port Arthur. While a standard part of the “Geographical Series,” the postcard tapped into a popular desire for information about the scene of the war.
The key at the bottom of the map lets the reader know that treaty ports (i.e., those open to foreign trade) are underlined, but no information specific to the conflict is included. Instead, the card serves the very basic purpose of a portable map, with no accompanying social commentary on the war. (Jon D. Carlson).
Since all major European powers were tacitly involved through their alliances with either Russia or Japan, in addition to the imperial European interests in China, there was considerable public interest in the conflict. Governments worked with private publishers to produce numerous series of cards on all aspects of the conflict. Leading postcard publishers “executed limited editions of their cards, numbering them like prints,” and “maintained almost weekly comments on events” (Fraser).
Source: Jon D. Carlson., Postcards and Propaganda: Cartographic Postcards as Sot News Images of the Russo-Japanese War.