Muirhead's Seventy Miles Around London - 1930
A gift from my wife Eleanor, this exhibit is of images from a small guidebook about London from 1930.----------7/21/24The Blue Guides are a long‑running series of scholarly travel guidebooks first created by the Scottish brothers James and Findlay Muirhead in the early 20th century. They were conceived as rigorous, text‑heavy guides for serious, culturally minded travelers, with a particular emphasis on history, art, and architecture rather than light sightseeing or practical tips alone.OriginsJames (1853–1934) and Findlay (1860–1935) Muirhead had previously spent decades as the English‑language editors for the German Baedeker guides, working on titles covering Britain, the United States, and Canada. When World War I disrupted that work and left them unemployed, they acquired in 1915 the rights to John Murray’s famous 19th‑century “Handbooks for Travellers,” then founded their own firm, Muirhead’s Guidebooks Limited. This gave them both the editorial expertise and the intellectual inheritance to create a new, heir series in English travel literature.Launch of the Blue GuidesThe first Blue Guide, “London and its Environs,” appeared in 1918 under the brothers’ imprint and marked the official start of the series. In 1917 they had already arranged with the French publisher Hachette to co‑publish related series under the names “Blue Guides” in English and “Guides Bleus” in French, drawing in part on Hachette’s existing blue‑covered Guides Joanne and consciously distinguishing themselves from Baedeker’s red‑covered guides. Early volumes soon expanded to other destinations, including England, Northern Italy, and Ireland, and set the template of dense, carefully organized cultural commentary.Editorial approach and distinctive featuresFrom the outset, the Muirheads aimed the Blue Guides at educated independent travelers, privileging reliable information and serious scholarship over anecdote. The guides became known for detailed background essays on history, art, architecture, religion, and topography, followed by systematic, often street‑by‑street or monument‑by‑monument descriptions. Practical information (transport, hotels, services) was included but in a secondary role, reflecting their view that the lasting value of a guide lay in its cultural and historical substance.Later development and legacyIn 1931 the Blue Guides list was sold to Ernest Benn, and after the brothers’ deaths the family connection continued through Findlay’s son, L. Russell Muirhead, who served as series editor until the mid‑1960s. During the later 20th century the series passed through several publishers (including A&C Black/Bloomsbury and then Somerset Books) but retained its core identity as a text‑driven, research‑heavy guide for readers interested in art and history. Today the Blue Guides are still published and are often regarded as direct intellectual descendants of Baedeker and John Murray, preserving a tradition of rigorous, culturally focused travel writing that the Muirhead brothers helped define.Source: Perplexity.ai--G. Ly
