Recently a number of coffee‐table books that include pictorial maps have been published. Most of these have little analysis, but rather are more or less chronological collections of maps—a sort of “gee whiz, aren't these neat” attitude, but the maps are not taken seriously for the most part. Stephen Hornsby's book, by contrast, is a scholarly look at this genre of maps. Hornsby describes the “Golden Age” as from the 1920s to the 1960s. He provides a substantial introductory essay on the nature and history of pictorial maps, followed by six chapters on various categories of pictorial maps: maps to amuse, to instruct, on places and regions, maps for industry, maps for war, and postwar America. Each chapter has a brief introduction to the map type, and each map has a paragraph describing and discussing the map.
The book features 158 color maps, primarily from the Library of Congress collections, but also maps from private collections. These are detailed in the acknowledgements. Hornsby does not include a conventional bibliography because the maps were generally not in books, but rather as individual sheets; however, there are extensive notes leading the reader to other sources. Each map has a paragraph describing it, its significance, the cartographer, and the collection where it is found.
Pictorial maps are a distinctive cartographic genre. They are “not scientific renderings of the earth's surface, but artistic renderings of places, regions and countries.” They combine, map, images, and text to tell a visual story or capture a sense of place.
As Hornsby points out, pictorial maps have generally not been taken seriously—not considered “real” maps because they are not part of scientific cartography.
The dominance of scientific mapping in Western culture has meant that pictorial maps have been largely ignored. In the United States, these maps have been treated as ephemera, the flotsam and jetsam of an enormous sea of popular culture. As a result, only a few libraries have collected such maps, and even fewer archives have accessioned the professional records of the graphic artists who designed them.
As an example of the neglect of twentieth century pictorial maps is that there is no entry for them in the monumental volume 6 of the History of Cartography, although it does touch on them in “maps as decoration” and in the entry on “travel and tourism.”
The introductory chapter of Picturing America looks at the significance of pictorial maps, their cultural significance, “humanized cartography,” noted pictorial mapmakers, creating a pictorial map, design challenges, marketing pictorial maps, and collectors and collecting. Hornsby provides capsule biographies and photographs of six well‐known pictorial map artists as well as biographies of two women—Ethel M. Fair and Muriel H. Parry—who were pictorial map collectors. Both collections were donated to the Library of Congress and used extensively for this book.
The section on notable pictorial mapmakers is especially useful. So often books on cartography focus solely on the maps and not their makers. Here we learn of the kinds of training these mapmakers had (if any)—usually art, not cartography, geography, or engineering—and where they worked. Another unusual part of the introductory essay is a discussion of how pictorial maps are created, and the design challenges and the marketing of these commercial maps.
“Maps to Amuse” looks at maps that have humor as a central part of the map and includes “brag” maps of places and such topics as “A New Yorker's View of the United States” that are often seen on postcards. “Maps to Instruct” deals with children's maps, maps of literature, history, sports, and pastimes. The most common type of pictorial map is found in “Maps of Place and Region.” This chapter includes maps of major cities, maps of colleges and universities, frequently drawn by alumni, and maps of regions and states. These are often forms of boosterism. “Maps for Industry” deals with advertising maps, including products and services, and the transportation industry. These maps are designed to persuade. “Maps for War” focuses on WWII, when pictorial maps took a serious turn and became far less humorous. Instead, many of these were patriotic or even propagandistic, and a good number appeared in newspapers. “Maps for Postwar America,” the concluding chapter, chronicles a waning genre.
Because of the size of most pictorial maps, they have, of necessity, been reduced to fit the book's format. Thus, the type on the map and many details cannot be viewed easily. This might disturb some; however, I do not believe it detracts from the value of the book, which is designed to show the nature and significance of pictorial maps. In addition, most of the map collections that hold the maps have digitized them and thus, these can be viewed on line. My one “criticism” is a personal preference. I would have liked an appendix that listed the artists and their dates (if known) as a quick reference.
Overall, this is a rich and fascinating look at a neglected genre, and I recommend it highly.