- Title: | Designed and Drawn by Ernest Dudley Chase
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Author: Ernest Dudley Chase
- Date: 1942
- Condition: Crisp and colorful, flawless first published example
- Inches: 35 1/2 x 14 7/8 [Image]
- Centimeters: 90.17 x 37.78 [Image]
- Product ID: 308485
Mapping Victory in a World at War
This intricate wartime cartographic work focusing on the Pacific theater was produced by Ernest Dudley Chase, a prominent figure in the field of pictorial cartography during the mid-20th century. The map delineates numerous Allied naval installations, railway networks, British and French colonial territories, while depicting Axis nations in foreboding black tones. Notably, Fascist Italy remains absent from the Axis coloring scheme, despite the map's creation prior to the September 1943 armistice. The oceanic regions teem with depictions of Allied military assets—warships, submarines, and aircraft—accompanied by notations of inter-port distances. The decorative border showcases military hardware including "A Yank Tank," "Flying Fortress," and a "New Anti-Aircraft Gun Machine." Chase characterized his creation as "A Battle Map, to set the stage for 'total war' on land and sea; And, in the border, just a hint - A prayer - for total Victory!" The reverse side remains unprinted. This particular specimen bears Chase's penciled signature in the lower left corner.
Background on Creator(s)
Ernest Dudley Chase (1878-1966) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He received his first artistic training from his father, who was a wallpaper designer. He attended the Lowell Textile School and the Vesper George Art School, then worked for printing companies from 1900-1908, beginning with the Butterfield Printing Company in 1900. Chase established his own greeting card company called Des Arts Publishers, which he later sold to Rust Craft Publishers in 1920. He authored "The Romance of Greeting Cards," published in 1926, which was the first complete history of the greeting card medium. Chase operated from his studio in Winchester, Massachusetts, where he became famous for his elaborately illustrated pictorial maps. He was an avid traveler, taking numerous trips throughout the United States and abroad between 1922 and 1937.
Chase began drawing maps at age 49, self-publishing them from his home in Winchester, principally during the 1930s and 1940s. He was one of the most prolific pictorial map artists of the 20th century, producing approximately 50 maps that covered a wide assortment of places and topics. His maps were characterized by dense vignette images of important locations, and he was known for his meticulous attention to detail, stippling his images "dot-by-dot, with tiny pens" under a magnifying glass in pursuit of what was described as a "passion for perfection." During his career, he also worked for Rust Craft Publishers, which printed greeting cards at its plant in Dedham. Chase died in 1966 at the age of 88.