Pictorial Map of Melbourne in the Style of MacDonald Gill

"The Wonder Map of Melbourne",

We show you Melbourne City,
but from a dizzy height.
Come see it as we know it.
you'll vote it very bright!

This stunning and uncommon pictorial map of Melbourne was drawn by John Power Studios for the Wonder Maps Co. of Australia. Its design is indebted to Macdonald Gill's influential The Famous Wonderground Map of London Town, and the map has the effect of making Melbourne seem as bustling and vibrant as London. There is much to see in the city, including the botanical gardens, the Shrine of Remembrance, Luna Park, the Exhibition Building, Royal Park and the zoo, the Burke and Wills Monument, Port Melbourne, Yarra Bend Park, and the Melbourne Cemetery. Irreverent cartooning fills the cityscape: an artist at the left edge of the map admits, "We could not fit Melbourne's big Industrial suburbs in;" a fisherman struggles with a monster fish in the Yarra; a souse tries to dig his way into a brewery in North Richmond; and an exasperated parachuter laments, "I forgot my Wonder Map!" A cartouche near the map's center commemorates the city's centenary year of 1934, notes that the population is now over one million, and includes space for autographs. The map is further decorated by an ornate compass rose. It is surrounded by a border with gum nuts motif and vignettes of Aboriginal life, Captain Lonsdale's cottage, and the first police station. Self-folding into pictorial envelope (10.6 x 5.6").

References: Rumsey #8575.

Condition: A

A clean and colorful example with a hint of color offsetting in the blank margins and a short edge tear confined to the right blank margin. Envelope has minor soiling and wear around the edges.