The Golden Age of American Pictorial Maps

Published on by Jonathan Crowe
The Capital of a New Trade Empire, 1929. Sheet map, 33×30 cm. Osher Map Library, University of Southern Maine.
The Capital of a New Trade Empire, 1929. Sheet map, 33×30 cm. Osher Map Library, University of Southern Maine.

The Golden Age of American Pictorial Maps is an exhibition running until 3 September 2016 at the University of Southern Maine’s Osher Map Library. (If you can’t go there physically, there’s plenty online at the link, too.) “Curated by Dr. Stephen J. Hornsby, co-editor of the Historical Atlas of Maine [previously] and author of a forthcoming book on American pictorial maps, this exhibit looks at the golden age of pictorial or illustrated maps from the 1920s to the 1960s. Reflecting the exuberance of American popular culture and the creativity of commercial art, the maps are stimulating to the imagination and dazzling to the eye.” [WMS]

Related reading: The Art of Illustrated Maps by John Roman (previously).