Quebec City Pictorial Map, The City of Quebec with Historical Notes, 1932
€ 685
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1932
Sheet size
63.8 × 84.8 cm (25.1 × 33.4 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14193
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
A crisp, colorful example, originally issued folded, with only very light wear along the fold lines. The original envelope shows short edge tears and minor soiling, consistent with age and handling.
About this sheet
The City of Quebec drawn as a pictorial map, an original color-printed sheet of 1932 by Samuel Herbert Maw, titled "The City of Quebec with Historical Notes." It belongs to the interwar tradition of decorative, information-rich city maps associated with MacDonald Gill, and the sheet is accompanied by its original publisher's envelope, with the title and artist printed on the front.
The city is shown in a bird's-eye, deliberately playful manner, with buildings, streets, parks and the walls of the upper town drawn in miniature and printed in yellow, green and blue. The star-shaped Citadel with its flag lies at the left, the St. Lawrence runs along the lower edge with a steamer on the water, and numerous panels of historical notes are scattered across the streets. A row of shields stands beneath the title, and large heraldic corner pieces carry the names of Wolfe, Frontenac, Champlain and Cartier. A bold compass rose at the upper right sets north toward the right of the sheet. A printed note at the lower right states that the map was begun in 1926 and completed in 1932, and that its dimensions and proportions are "not to be taken seriously," the aim being to amuse as well as instruct.
Maw was an English-born artist who produced several pictorial maps in Canada.
