2 replies to this topic

[woneil]

World War II was a high point for American public interest in cartography, as thoughtful people sought to understand the events in distant, unfamiliar places, and how these related to their own lives. It was the era of the big general magazine and they and newspapers carried maps as never before or since.

Many of the most notable and striking of these were drawn by Richard Edes Harrison (1901-1994) for the Time-Life publications, and particularly for Fortune magazine. Harrison was something of a cartographic maverick who produced dramatic, striking maps.

I have my family's well-worn copy of his remarkable Look at the World: The Fortune Atlas for World Strategy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1944), which is filled with striking examples of his work. Most striking of all are a series of small-scale naturalistic hand-drawn color perspective maps, each showing a major region affected by the war. Images of a sampling of pages can be accessed via http://www.fulltable...S/m/map/reh.htm.

The book, unfortunately, is all but impossible to find, but Life magazine published nine of the perspectives in its 28 Feb 1944 issue, and they may be viewed at http://books.google....M...p;q&f=false. It's not too difficult to lay hands on copies of the magazine. I had always wondered how he could have computed the perspective for these in the pre-computer age and this article reveals his secrets.

There is also a collection of his work to be found at http://www.fulltable...tune/menubc.htm. Another notable Harrison map lies at http://mappery.com/O...ne-War-Map-1942. Finally, there is an ode to Harrison and one of his most remarkable maps at http://www.philip-ri...-edes-harrison/.

[ravells]

Thanks for the links which I have reposted at the Cartographers' Guild. I've seen the Venezuela map before but not the others.

best

Ravi

[P Riggs]

The book, unfortunately, is all but impossible to find, but Life magazine published nine of the perspectives in its 28 Feb 1944 issue, and they may be viewed at http://books.google....M...p;q&f=false. It's not too difficult to lay hands on copies of the magazine. I had always wondered how he could have computed the perspective for these in the pre-computer age and this article reveals his secrets.

Thanks for that link. I have the book, but have never seen that article. Great stuff! REH is one of my favorite cartographers.