1942 Ernest Dudley Chase Pictorial Map of South America

An attractive pictorial map of South America, produced in 1942 by Ernest Dudley Chase and printed by Rand McNally for Moore-McCormack Lines, a shipping company that ran regular passenger service between New York and South America.

A Closer Look

Incredibly detailed and beautifully illustrated, Chase highlights the wide array of flora and fauna that call South America home alongside its most spectacular natural and man-made sites. Illustrations of animals, including the condor, anteater, sloth, macaw, toucan, iguana, and chinchilla, fill the continent. South American's other natural riches, such as Brazil's diamonds and emeralds, the rubber found in the Amazon, oil, cacao, and tea are also promoted.

Cities and towns are labeled throughout, including Sao Paulo, Caracas, Bogota, Quito, La Paz, Lima, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, and Santiago. Each of these cities, along with many others, are also identified by illustrations of famous buildings, or, in the case of Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana Beach. Circular vignettes appear along all four borders and highlight famous buildings from across the continent, the majority of which are churches. Others illustrate world famous sites, such as Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls, and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. A portrait of Simón Bolívar is included below the title cartouche with a caption celebrating the liberation movement that he instigated from Colombia to Chile. The route of Moore-McCormack's ships outbound from New York and returning from South America are highlighted, along with their main stops on the continent.

Ahoy, Neighbor!

Moore-McCormack's flagships were called 'the Good Neighbor Fleet,' a name which borrowed from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 'Good Neighbor' policy towards South America. This policy aimed to allay fears in Latin America of U.S. military interventions, which were frequent in the preceding decades, and instead promote respect for sovereignty and economic ties between American countries. Not only did Moore-McCormack borrow the phrase from the Roosevelt Administration, but their entire operation was supported by the United States Maritime Commission, including the refurbishment of three ships from the recently closed Panama Pacific Line.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Ernest Dudley Chase and published in 1942 by Rand McNally for Moore-McCormack Lines. It is nearly identical to another map published the same year by the same artist and publisher titled 'The Good Neighbor Pictorial Map of South America' (Rumsey 8596.000. OCLC 1110127334), the only difference between the two being the title. In either case, the map is fairly scarce, with the printing with the present title being held by Stanford University, the Newberry Library, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the University of Southern Maine.