Pictorial map

Pictorial map of Paris by Claes Jansz. Visscher

Will Durant said that maps show us the face of history. Pictorial maps have been used to show the cuisine of a country, the industries of a city, the attractions of a tourist town, the history of a region or its holy shrines.

The history of pictorial maps overlaps much with the history of cartography in general,[1] and ancient artifacts suggest that pictorial mapping has been around since recorded history began.

In Medieval cartography, pictorial icons as well as religious and historical ideas usually overshadowed accurate geographic proportions. A classic example of this is the T and O map, which represented the three known continents in the form of a cross, with Jerusalem at its center. The more precise art of illustrating detailed bird’s-eye-view urban landscapes flourished during the European Renaissance. As emerging trade centers such as Venice began to prosper, local rulers commissioned artists to develop pictorial overviews of their towns to help them organize trade fairs and direct the increasing flow of visiting merchants. When printing came around, pictorial maps evolved into some of the earliest forms of advertising as cities competed amongst themselves to attract larger shares of the known world’s commerce.

Later, during the Age of Exploration, maps became progressively more accurate for navigation needs and were often sprinkled with sketches and drawings such as sailing ships showing the direction of trade winds, little trees and mounds to represent forests and mountains and, of course, plenty of sea creatures and exotic natives, much of them imaginary. As the need for geographical accuracy increased, these illustrations gradually slipped off the map and onto the borders and eventually disappeared altogether in the wake of modern scientific cartography.

A 19th-century pictorial map plate of a rural and industrial area in St. Louis

As cartography evolved, the pictorial art form went its own way and regained popularity in the 19th century with the development of the railroads. Between 1825 and 1875, the production and collection of panoramic maps of cities rose to something of a mania. In the U.S. alone, thousands of panoramic maps were produced. The leading panoramic map artists in the U.S.A. were Herman Brosius, Camille N. Drie, Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler, Paul Giraud, Augustus Koch, D. D. Morse, Henry Welge, and A. L. Westyard.[4][5] Somewhat like the websites of their time, every town sought to have one to remain competitive in attracting industry and the immigrant trade. Sometimes artistic exaggeration bordered on the fraudulent, as some travelers were drawn by images of idyllic, bustling towns with humming factories only to find a sad little bunch of mud-soaked shacks when they got there. A vast collection of these prints is maintained by the Library of Congress, and many of the more beautiful ones continue to be reprinted and sold to this day.[6]

With the growth of tourism, pictorial mapmaking reappeared as a popular culture art form in the 1920s through the 1950s, often with a whimsical Art Deco style that reflects the period.

Another resurgence occurred in the 1970s and 80s. This was the heyday of companies like Archar and Descartes who produced hundreds of colorful promotional maps of mainly American and Canadian cities. Local businesses were flatteringly drawn on these 'Character maps' with their logos proudly embedded on their buildings.

Colourful quirky map of Omey Island created by Irish artist Sean Corcoran 2009

Ironically, despite all the changes that they record, very little has changed in the business of creating pictorial maps over the centuries. Showing off a given town, attracting visitors and stirring up local pride is what they have always been about. Most of these maps were and continue to be created by a handful of itinerant specialists who keep up the tradition. Many of them traveled from city to city enlisting the support of local merchants, industrialists and civic organizations, whose endorsement would of course guarantee a prominent place for their properties on the map.

Tampa Bay aerial view map by Maria Rabinky 2008

Edwin Whitefield for instance, one of the more prolific 19th-century American pictorial map artists, would require about 200 subscribers before he put pen to paper. Once he secured the profitability of the venture, Whitefield would be seen all over town furiously sketching every building. Then, choosing an imaginary aerial vantage point, he would integrate all his sketches into a complete and detailed drawing of the city. Then after that, say the chroniclers of the time, Whitefield would once again be seen furiously darting all over town to collect from all his sponsors. Says Jean-Louis Rheault, a contemporary pictorial map illustrator: "Pictorial maps - with their emphasis on what's important and eye-catching - make it easier to figure out what's where."[7]

The Man of Commerce, 1889, Rand McNally and Company

A type of pictoral maps are maps that use anthropomorphic images. Anthropomorphic maps date back to when Sebastian Münster used a queen to depict Europe in 1570.[8] The map, The Man of Commerce, by Augustus F. McKay is the earliest anthropomorphic map known of in the United States, created in 1889.[8]

• Panoramic Maps Collection
• History of Cartography

• J. B. Harley and David Woodward (eds) (1987). The History of Cartography Volume 1: Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-31633-5.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Monmonier, Mark (1991). How to Lie with Maps. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-53421-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pictorial maps.

• Pictorial Map Collection, St. Louis Public Library Digital Collections
• 1936 Pictorial Map of London
• Historic Cities
• History of Cartography
• Mapping History
• Panoramic maps, Library of Congress
• See Pictorial Maps in Persuasive Cartography, The PJ Mode Collection, Cornell University Library
• Bird's Eye View Map of Budapest