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Map, Massachusetts, Salem, Pictorial, Alva Scott Garfield, Vintage Print, c. 1960s

$550

Alva Scott Garfield (designed, drawn, and published by)
A Scott-Map of Salem Massachusetts
Alva Scott Garfield, c. 1950s-60s
Color photo process print
20.25 x 27.5 inches, image
23 x 29.5 inches, overall
$550

Colorful pictorial map of Salem, Massachusetts. Historic buildings and locations of interest are shown with pictorial illustrations, including Witch House, Pickering House, Custom House, Hotel Hawthorne, Peabody Museum, and Pioneers’ Village. Other illustrations featured are historic ships from the 18th and 19th centuries, fanciful mermaids in the North River, a statue of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, and a group of early settlers “Going to Church.” There are also portraits of Governor John Endecott, Nathaniel Bowditch, and Elias Haskett Derby. The map is lettered throughout with historical information and quotations, including references to the infamous Salem witch trials. A witch on a broom with her cat flies through the air with the droll caption, “Aviation started in Salem.” On a more serious note, a sign indicates the way “To Gallows Hill, where in the summer of 1692, 19 people were hanged for witchcraft – (No witches were burned in Salem).”

Product description continues below.

Description

Two scrolls bear poems by Salem native William Wetmore Story (1819-1895): “Salem/ Ah me, how many an autumn day/ We watched with palpitating breast/ Some stately ship, from India or Cathay,/ Laden with spicy odors from the East,/ Come sailing up the bay!” The second continues: “How oft half-fearfully we prowled/ Around those gabled houses quaint and old,/ Whose legends, grim and terrible,/ Of witch and ghost that used in them to dwell/ Around the twilight fire were told.”

The cartouche is decorated with two ship figureheads reflecting Salem’s maritime history.

Alva Scott Garfield designed, drew and published colorful pictorial maps of New England during the 1950s and 1960s. Based in Madison, New Hampshire, and Concord, Massachusetts, Garfield produced maps that were connected to nearby areas rich in historical interest: Boston, the Harvard University campus, Concord, Salem and the White Mountains. The maps are historically oriented and annotated throughout with facts and quotations from important historical figures. Events related to colonial history and the American Revolution are frequently highlighted. Important buildings are drawn in bird’s-eye style. Garfield’s maps include whimsical touches such as mermaids in the waters and decorative borders related to the locale. The maps in our inventory were recently rediscovered in a warehouse in New Hampshire, accounting for their very good uncirculated condition.

Condition: Generally fine with only minor overall toning and wear.

Additional information

Century

20th Century