Dudley Chase’s map of North America stretches from Greenland to the Panama Canal. All major political baoundaries are marked, together with cities, rivers, and prominent landmarks. Other important information includes the settling of Greenland by the Viking’s in the tenth century; the marking of the geogrpahical centre of the U.S.A. at Lebanon, Kansas; and Paricutin in Mexico were on the “Feb. 20, 1943, a cornfield became a volcano”. To the sea are depicted ships ranging from Ferdinand Magellan’s Trinidad, and Columbus’ Santa Maria, to a New England Whaler and the ocean liner the Queen Mary. Surrounding the map are vignettes of American landmarks, including Niagara Falls, the Rockefeller Centre in New York, Capitol Hill, and the Alamo.

Ernest Dudley Chase (1878-1966) was one of the most prolific of the mid-century mapmakers, publishing some fifty maps in the 1930s to the 1960s. His maps cover a broad range of geographical locations and varied topics including historical and current events, architecture, and technology. They typically incorporate large numbers of minutely rendered illustrations with explanatory captions that blend a scholarly approach with wit.