Long Island in the State of New York
Large, Rare Limited-Edition Map: 1929
Long Island in the State of New York
Detail of Long Island in the State of New York Detail of Long Island in the State of New York
Detail of Long Island in the State of New York Detail of Long Island in the State of New York Detail of Long Island in the State of New York
Detail of Long Island in the State of New York Detail of Long Island in the State of New York Detail of Long Island in the State of New York
F.H.B. Byrne (act. 1900-1929) and Clarence Pearson Hornung (born 1899) (after)
Long Island in the State of New York together with Block Island, Gardiners Island & Fishers Island
American: 1929
Hand-colored print
Limited edition print No. 48/100
29 x 42.5 inches, overall
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.

Limited edition, large and rare map of Long Island and parts of New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island on the opposite shore of Long Island Sound. Cartography is simple, showing rivers, forests, and names of towns. The map is decorated with compass roses, rhumb lines, the state seals of New York and Connecticut, and two elaborate Baroque cartouches. One cartouche, upper left, has the map title surrounded by a Latin phrase from Psalm 18:2 that translates as "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament declares the work of God's hands." The other has the map credits and edition number flanked by illustrations of explorer Henry Hudson and a Native American standing on a pediment, together with the mileage scale. The lower section of the map has three paragraphs about the history of Long Island between 1609 and 1899, including information about the Native American tribes who lived there when the Dutch and British explorers arrived in the 17th century. The map was executed in the style of 18th-century maps in 1929 as a collaboration between F.H.B. Byrne, a music industry executive who had studied art at one time, and graphic artist Clarence Pearson Hornung.

Clarence Pearson Hornung was a graphic designer, illustrator and author of design reference books, working in New York City. He received a bachelor's degree from City College of New York and also studied at New York University and Cooper Union Art School. Hornung worked as a designer, specializing in trademarks, packaging, product identification and book bindings. He also was a publisher of prints under the names Autoprints and Collectors' Prints. As an artist, he was particularly well known for his drawings and prints of antique automobiles, an exhibition of which was circulated to 60 U.S. museums and libraries in 1951. Hornung also was a prolific writer on design, compiling useful reference works that were reprinted many times. Among his works were Handbook of Designs and Devices (1932) a sourcebook of over 1,800 geometric symbols that became a classic and was reprinted several times up until 1974, Treasury of American Design and Antiques; Handbook of Early Advertising Art; An Old-Fashioned Christmas in Illustration and Décor; and a series of books on "Early American" vehicles: locomotives, carriages, trolley cars and fire engines. Hornung was a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Industrial Designers Institute.

F.H.B. Byrne was an executive at the American Piano Company from before 1908 to after 1928. The company, also known as Ampico, manufactured reproducing pianos (player pianos). In a 1919 article, Byrne is identified as vice-president in charge of the artistic development of the music rolls. At the time, Ampico was recording some of the major concert pianists of the day, including the composer Sergei Rachmaninov, Lhevinne, and Arthur Rubinstein. Byrne was active in the National Association of Music Roll Manufacturers of America, serving as its first president, and in the Musical Industries Chamber of Commerce. In 1900, Byrne exhibited two landscapes in an exhibition in Boston.

Motto on cartouche: Caeli Ennarrant Gloriam Dei et Opera Manum Ejus Annuntiat Firmamentum.

Full publication information: Designed & Drawn by F.H.B. Byrne & C.P. Hornung. This Hand-Colored Edition is Limited to One Hundred Copies of which this is No. 48. Copyright 1929 by F.H.B.B. & C.P.H.

References:

"Changes of Interest to Trade Are Made in Personnel of Rythmodik Music Corporation." The Music Trades. Vol. 57. March 15, 1919. p. 40. Online at Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=1ZxQAAAAYAAJ (1 December 2011).

"Clarence Hornung, The Master of Marks." Letterology. March 27, 2011. http://letterology.blogspot.com/2011/03/clarence-hornung-master-of-marks_27.html (1 December 2011).

Gilbert, Dorothy B., ed. Who’s Who in American Art. New York: American Federation of Arts and R.R. Bowker, 1959. pp. 264-265.

Mac Mullan, Henry. "Latest News in New York Trade." Presto-Times: The American Music Trade Weekly. Chicago: February 11, 1928. p. 1. Online at International Arcade Museum. 1995-2011. http://presto.arcade-museum.com/PRESTO-1928-2167/PRESTO-1928-2167-03.pdf (1 December 2011).

"Music Roll Manufacturers' Association Formed." The Music Trade Review. Vol. 62, No. 19. May 6, 1916. p. 27. Online at International Arcade Museum. http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1916-62-19/MTR-1916-62-19-27.pdf (1 December 2011).