{"product_id":"old-map-of-the-land-of-make-believe-by-hess-1930-pictorial-fairy-tale-world-color-lithograph-birds-eye-view","title":"The Land of Make Believe by Hess, 1930: pictorial fairy-tale world, color lithograph, bird's-eye view","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Land of Make Believe is Jaro Hess’s enchanting 1930 tour de force, a color-lithographed, thematic pictorial map that gathers classic children’s stories into one continuous realm of imagination. Rather than charting borders or latitudes, Hess maps wonder itself, weaving Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Peter Rabbit, and many others into a single landscape where tales abut, overlap, and beckon. Every vista brims with narrative cues: cottages crouch at forest edges, castles crown distant hills, and winding lanes curve toward scenes the viewer recognizes before reading a label. Its vibrant palette and nested vignettes lend a storybook cadence to the geography, making the sheet both a dazzling artwork and a cunning guide to childhood’s shared mythology.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHess conceived the work as a playful atlas of ideas, where stories, not states, determine the terrain. Debuting just before the map’s celebrated showing at Chicago’s 1933 Century of Progress, it drew acclaim for fusing illustration, pedagogy, and cartography into a single, legible whole. The enduring appeal of this vision is underscored by later appearances in 1958 and 1982, each return renewing its authority as a touchstone in the pictorial-map tradition. It helped redefine what a map could do—charting culture, memory, and narrative—while shaping how generations encountered beloved tales in a unified, navigable form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStylistically, Hess privileges the pictorial over the planar, trading conventional projections for a panoramic, bird’s-eye orchestrations of space. The design is a choreography of vignettes—each a stage set—stitched together by footpaths, bridges, and streams that behave like plot lines. Carefully lettered banners and cartouches label districts and landmarks, transforming signage into storytelling. A saturated yet harmonized palette animates fields, forests, and rooftops, while scale shifts deliberately to elevate characters over topography. The result is a lucid, playful geography: richly detailed without becoming cluttered, and precise enough to “guide” the eye from episode to episode with the ease of turning pages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotable features appear as destinations in their own right. A shadowed woodland frames Little Red Riding Hood’s fateful crossing; a glittering palace and pumpkin coach anchor Cinderella’s courtly precincts; Peter Rabbit’s warren and vegetable beds unfold in a mischievous corner of the map. Around them cluster windmills, cottages, bridges, and castle towns—each scene punctuated by labels that read like chapter headings. Tiny figures animate fields and lanes, while architectural flourishes hint at the tales’ moods. The vignettes are not mere decorations; they are waypoints. Follow a path, and it becomes a story arc. Read a banner, and it becomes a portal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorically significant and remarkably influential, The Land of Make Believe stands at the confluence of children’s literature and twentieth-century pictorial cartography. Its original edition is exceptionally rare, yet its imagery became an iconic visual grammar for storytelling—imitated, celebrated, and fondly remembered. Displayed at the 1933 Chicago exposition, it exemplified the modern ideal that learning could be beautiful, intuitive, and richly intertextual. Today it endures as both a cultural artifact and a living map: a work that rewards lingering attention, sparks conversation across generations, and invites the viewer to wander—discovering, with each revisit, another story waiting just beyond the next bend in the path.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCountries and regions on this map\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThere are no specific countries or regions depicted on the map, as it is entirely fantastical and based on children's literature rather than real geography.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotable Features \u0026amp; Landmarks\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImaginary Locations: Each story is represented by a distinct location or scene.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVignettes: Illustrative elements surrounding various children's stories, including characters and settings.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArtistic Elements: Prominent use of color, whimsical depictions, and intricate illustrations of landscapes, buildings, and characters.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLabeling: Specific names given to areas related to the stories, enhancing navigation through the map.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorical and design context\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOriginally published in 1930; re-issued in 1958 and 1982.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOffset color-lithographed thematic and pictorial representation featuring whimsical scenes from classic children's literature.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKnown for its vibrant illustrations and imaginative layout; became an iconic graphic in children's storytelling.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eExhibited at the 1933 Century of Progress World Exhibition in Chicago, garnering widespread acclaim.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe map features colorful illustrations with a playful cartographic design, incorporating numerous vignettes that add a storybook quality to the geographical representation.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe original edition is extremely rare, shaping children's literature and cartography as both an artistic and educational tool throughout the 20th century.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/de\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eThe model in the listing images is holding the 24x36in (60x90cm) version of this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the \u003ca href=\"\/de\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003ebest old maps\u003c\/a\u003e to see if something else catches your eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease \u003ca href=\"\/de\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003econtact me\u003c\/a\u003e to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex\/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"12x18in (30x45cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58249399468416,"sku":"UM00294890A","price":360.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x18in (30x45cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58249399501184,"sku":"UM00294891A","price":968.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x18in (30x45cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58249399533952,"sku":"UM00294892A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Map","offer_id":58249399566720,"sku":"UM00294893A","price":360.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58249399599488,"sku":"UM00294894A","price":968.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed canvas 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