Description
This map was copyrighted in 1946 and published by Hagstrom Company, Inc. according to Library of Congress copyright records. WorldCat lists “3 editions published between 1946 and 1950 in English” without further explanation. In 1948, the company moved to 311 Broadway. The offered example has a revised copyright line as follows: “Published by Hagstrom Company, Inc., 311 Broadway, New York, 7 N.Y.” This address establishes its publication date as prior to the introduction of zip codes in 1963. Presumably then, maps with this address were republished and printed roughly from 1948 until around the early 1960s.
Dorothea Dix Lawrence was a successful soprano opera singer in the 1930s and 1940s, then became a leading champion and scholar of American folk music. She gave hundreds of lecture-recitals across the United States and Europe with a repertoire ranging from a variety of Native American songs in their original languages to Americana songs by established composers. Her Folklore Music Map of the United States was copyrighted in 1946 and subsequently widely distributed in American schools. She later published her songs in the book Folklore Songs of the United States. Lawrence gave “Musically Mapping America” talks throughout the United States and Mexico until her retirement in 1970. Her papers are in the Dorothea Dix Lawrence Collection at the Library of Congress.
Harry Cimino, a collaborator on the Folklore Music Map, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Art Students League, New York. During his long career, he contributed illustrations to numerous books, and was particularly known for his wood engravings.
Condition: Generally fine overall, apparently relatively uncirculated, with only light toning, wear, handling.
References:
“Eastman lecture spotlights folklorist.” University of Rochester. 24 July 2000. http://www.rochester.edu/eastman/html/recentnews/dorothea_dix.html (12 February 2003).
Hornsby, Stephen J. Picturing America, The Golden Age of Pictorial Maps. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017. Pl. 44, pp. 79, 112-13.
