1964 Bollmann View of Midtown Manhattan/ Subway Map on Reverse

This is the 1962 Bollmann axonometric map of midtown Manhattan, in its 1964 issue. This distinctive view presents the area at the stylistic peak of the skyscraper era: over half of the world's skyscrapers standing at the time appear within the bounds of this view.

Making of the Map

Bollmann created an image of great, apparent precision by employing subtle distortion and exaggeration to emphasize scale and clarity. The entire work was first drawn by hand, and its preparation boasted the use of over 67,000 photographs, 17,000 of which were aerial. Bollmann widened the streets to keep the image uncluttered; his view dispenses with perspective to maintain a uniform scale for all the buildings and allow comparison of size. The result captures this mighty concentration of towers, presenting each with its uniquely recognizable profile: the iconic Empire State building, the graceful Art Deco curves of the Chrysler building, the sleek blade of the United Nations, and the ultra-modern helicopter pad of the Pan Am building. The verso of the map is a detailed subway map of the five boroughs; the map dates itself by the presence of John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Publication History

Bollmann printed this first edition of this view in Germany in 1962. This is the second of two American editions, printed to promote the New York World's Fair In 1963 and 1964. In addition to the changed verso map, there are significant typographical differences between this and the German-printed American editions of the map, which were executed using a different stone. Both the 1963 and 1964 New York-printed editions employ a brighter palette than the German edition. A further printing of this view, printed on one side in a smaller format and lacking a guidebook, was issued in the 1980s. Examples of these, in various editions, are represented in institutional collections with varying degrees of precision in cataloging.