Description
Playful illustrations add subtle humor: an artist with a pronounced mustache paints on an easel in Greenwich Village, a monkey rides an elephant at the Bronx Zoo, and a floating money bag drifts through the Financial District. The 1939 World’s Fair site is labeled and dated, with numerous illustrations. Based on other extant pictorial maps of Manhattan, this likely is an indication that the map was specifically made at that time for tourists for this event. The main map illustrations are rendered in blue. The map has a decorative border in red featuring illustrations of New York’s origins: a Native American chief, a Dutch female settler, wooden shoes, and a female night club or theater dancer. The map is signed in the matrix “Pakay.” No information about the artist has been located. This map is apparently rare. Only one other example is known.
An amusing poem — from which we have drawn a title for the map – is in the lower right corner.
Here’s a map of life’s mad pattern
as you’ll find it in Manhattan
all crowded in so small a space
but much the same as any place.
Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning, handling, and wear. Few pale discolorations. Printed on linen weave paper with varnish finish, resulting in slight scattered bubbling of paper.
