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Description

Rare First State / Hand Colored!

First state of Wallingford's iconic New Yorker's Idea Map.

This is a clever pictorial map of the United States, whimsically depicting a massive New York and Brooklyn area, with a highly distorted and intentionally inaccurate representation of the rest of the country.

Wallingford's map is a delightful combination of humor, satire, and provincialism. Among the more entertaining depictions is the massive depiction of Florida, 3 rivers running through the southern states and ending in the Gulf of Mexico, each named "Swanee River." Massive depiction of Hollywood as the entire lower 3rd of California, Yellowstone Park and Ottumwe (Iowa) shown in Colorado, and Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, Dubuque, and Nebraska all shown as cities in Illinois, to name but a few. The sidebar commentary is equally entertaining.

Wallingford's map was first published prior to 1935. An example was published by The Columbia University Press for the 1936 Times Book Fair. A second edition was printed for the 1937 Times Book Fair with a note printed on the back by the publisher that it had "appealed so strongly to Fairgoers of 1936 that we have been persuaded to offer it again." The addresses on each edition are different. 

Wallingford also published "A Bostonian's Idea of the United States of America."

Rarity

The first state is quite rare on the market, especially in early color.

Condition Description
On linen