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Spectacular Roaring-Twenties Pictorial Map of Manhattan. "A tour de force" - Hornsby, Picturing America.
Beautiful color-printed map of Manhattan north to around 110th street, by C. Vernon Farrow. This is one of the best, if not the best, pictorial map of Manhattan from the Golden Age of pictorial mapmaking.
Farrow's map shows a burgeoning Manhattan with blocks of brand new skyscrapers during the headiest days of the run up to the Great Depression. Various parks and neighborhoods are named, large buildings as well. The border is filled with speeding cars and running people, evoking the hustle-bustle of Manhattan during that era. There is an inset showcasing Washington Heights and Inwood in the upper left corner "The Continuation of the Map of Manhattan Showing the Northern Part 1926."
The map has received the strongest praise from the nation's foremost experts on pictorial mapmaking.
Stephen J. Hornsby, Picturing America, page 126, pl. 51:
Farrow's spectacular map demonstrates the close connection between bird's-eye views and pictorial maps. the traditional bird's-eye view, however, has been transformed by Farrow's use of bright colors . . . and comic figures. the depiction of Manhattan's architecture - many buildings are easily identifiable - is a tour de force, without parallel in the pictorial map genre. Title cartouche and map borders capture the boisterous and lavish world of New York in the 1920s.
Rumsey 8673:
Farrow's map of Manhattan is full of interesting details well rendered, all of which contribute to an outstanding design and makes this map one of the best pictorial maps of the 1920's in the United States. This appears to be the only major city map that Farrow designed, although he did design a world map for Simon and Schuster in 1927 showing their publishing activities worldwide. He died young, at age 40. The title cartouche is covered by the printed label which also appears on the map envelope (not present with this copy). Some copies do not have the printed label covering the cartouche.
