Leslie MacDonald Gill (6 October 1884 – 14 January 1947), commonly known as MacDonald Gill or Max Gill, was a noted early-twentieth-century British graphic designer,

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an ...

, artist and architect.

Biography

New Zealand - Her Natural and Industrial Resources Art

Born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, Gill was the younger brother of

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the '' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cr ...

, one of the leading figures of the Arts and Crafts movement. In 1914 his "'' Wonderground Map''", commissioned by

Frank Pick Frank Pick Hon. RIBA (23 November 1878 – 7 November 1941) was a British transport administrator. After qualifying as a solicitor in 1902, he worked at the North Eastern Railway, before moving to the Underground Electric Railways Compan ...

, and hung at every station, helped to promote the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

by presenting an accurate map which also had a humorous side in

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...

style. Produced in poster form, it was also made available for sale to members of the public and proved to be very popular. Elder brother Eric, who at that time was engaged in a commission for

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...

, was included at the bottom of the map. Gill showed three works at the first annual exhibition of the newly formed

Society of Graphic Art The Society of Graphic Art for Pornographique (renamed Society of Graphic Fine Art in 1984) is a British arts organisation established in 1999. History The Society of Graphic Art (SGA) was founded in 1999 by Frank Lewis Emanuel, whose idea it wa ...

in 1921. He was the designer of the standard upper-case lettering used on

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, ...

s and

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

s by the

Imperial War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

. But it is perhaps his illustrated maps for which he is most well known. These maps have featured in a series of exhibitions including ''Magnificent Maps'' exhibition in 2010 at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

, an exhibition, ''MacDonald Gill, Out of the Shadows'', in 2011 at the

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achi ...

and at the ''Mind the Map'' exhibition in 2012 at the

London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...

Gallery

File:Henry Bellingham visits the Scott Polar Research Institute (6748170713).jpg, Map of the South Pole (1934) at the

Scott Polar Research Institute The Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is a centre for research into the polar regions and glaciology worldwide. It is a sub-department of the Department of Geography in the University of Cambridge, located on Lensfield Road in the south ...

in Cambridge File:St Pauls Max Gill.png, upLettering by Gill commemorating those who were buried or memorialised in

Old St Paul's Cathedral Old St Paul's Cathedral was the cathedral of the City of London that, until the Great Fire of 1666, stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built from 1087 to 1314 and dedicated to Saint Paul, the cathedral was perhaps the fourth ...

but whose tombs have not survived (1 January 1913) File:War Grave at Tyne Cot Cemetery, Belgium MOD 45156480.jpg, Tombstone of an unknown soldier at

Tyne Cot Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground for the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. It is the largest cemetery for Common ...

Cemetery. The inscription uses Gill's Headstone Standard Alphabet. File:Richmond, St John the Divine, The Lady chapel reredos.jpg, The statues in this

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for e ...

St John the Divine, Richmond St John the Divine, Richmond, in the Anglican Diocese of Southwark, is a Grade II listed church on Kew Road, in Richmond, London, near Richmond railway station. Built in 1836, and a parish in its own right since 1838, it was designed by Lewi ...

, London are by MacDonald Gill

References

External links

Official websiteUniversity of Brighton Design Archives: MacDonald 'Max' Gill – A Digital Resource 2011

Map Roman
(digital font by David Jonathan Ross based on MacDonald Gill's style of lettering) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, MacDonald 1884 births 1947 deaths 20th-century English artists 20th-century British sculptors Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Artists from Brighton British letter cutters English cartographers English graphic designers English illustrators English male sculptors English typographers and type designers People educated at The Prebendal School 20th-century English male artists