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United States/ Pictorial Map. HENRY, Edward Everett [New York: Washington Square Bookshop: 1930] Our United States. 31 x 34 inches. Original color process print. Flattened & expertly mounted on Japanese paper, slight, barely visible fold wear, over all an excellent bright example. Interestingly, the map itself focuses on agricultural products and livestock, suggesting an abundance of food sources, while the border vignettes illustrate technological advances, primarily in transportation. Three maps of the United States in the border depict, respectively, air, motor and railway routes throughout the country. There are also several insets of places in which the United States held a vital interest at the time: the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, the Philippines, the Panama Canal Zone, Puerto Rico and Cuba. The map was published by the legendary Washington Square Bookshop, a Greenwich Village institution for over 60 years, frequented by writers, artists and the curious; it published a number of other pictorial maps during the 20s and 30s. The map used here was based on one by Rand McNally, as is stated on it. Another example of Henry's map from the collection of the Library of Congress is illustrated on a full page in Hornsby’s foundational book on pictorial maps, Picturing America: The Golden Age of Pictorial Maps. Hornsby observes that “Henry created [in this map] a patriotic celebration of American progress from the American Indian to the airplane” (p. 79). Edward Everett Henry (1893-1961) was an illustrator and muralist based in New York City, who later resided in New Canaan, Connecticut and East Hampton, Long Island. He studied at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts and by 1917 was teaching there. He enlisted in the Army during World War I and applied his artistic talent to working in the Camouflage Corps. After the war, he worked regularly as an illustrator for advertising campaigns, books, and magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s. In 1935 he was commissioned by Ford Motor Company to produce a large world map mural for its building at the San Diego World’s Fair. He then entered into partnership with artists Louis Bouché and Allen Saalburg to design and paint murals for other corporate and commercial projects — the Pennsylvania Railroad and the 1939 New York World’s Fair, among others. Beginning in 1928 until the end of his life, he produced in addition to this one a number of other pictorial maps: a double hemisphere world map for the Washington Square Book Shop (1928), a map of the United States for Rand McNally (1930), a map of Trinidad for Barber Asphalt Company (c. 1936-38), a map of the United States showing “your premium dollars at work” for the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company (1958), a map of East Hampton for the Chamber of Commerce (1960), and a series of nine literary maps related to classic works such as Moby Dick and Robin Hood (1953-1961). He also made pictorial estate plans for private clients. As Hornbsy notes, Henry had a flair for “successfully combining text and image” in complex subjects in a manner that effectively conveyed information with clarity and visual appeal. [With:] Original paper envelop in which the map was sold. 8 ½ x 10 ½ inches. Generally worn, somewhat soiled with splits & chipping; fair condition. Hornsby, Stephen J. Picturing America: The Golden Age of Pictorial Maps. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017. pp. 16, 79, 99, 108-109, 119, 183, 243-244, 251; Rumsey, #10061; Ethel Fair Collection (647) LOC; “ https://www.askart.com/artist/E_Everett_Henry/28840/E_Everett_Henry.aspx (7 October 2025)
Bold, art deco-styled map celebrating American achievement and economic plenty, all presented in a bright palette of reds and blues. This relentlessly upbeat portrait of the United States was no doubt at least in part intended as an antidote to the darkness of the Great Depression then descending on the country. Very rare: no examples in OCLC, though two cited in references below; no example cited in either rarebookhub.com or oldmaps.com.
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