1928 Harrison Godwin Pictorial Map of North America and Central America

An extremely scarce 1928 pictorial map by Harrison Godwin promoting the routes of the Panama Mail Steam Ship Company. In Godwin's classic style, the map humorously covers North American from New York and San Francisco south to Columbia, including all of Central America, Mexico, and Cuba. The map, in the process of detailing the Panama Mail Ship's route from New York, through the Panama Canal, to San Francisco, and the reverse trip. Along the borders the adventures of a fictional traveler are highlighted and include a two-day trip in Guatemala, watching a cockfight, meeting new friends on board the steamship, and exotic shipping in El Salvador and Havana, etc. Throughout the map there are also numerous vignettes detailing historical and current events, as well cultural annotations. Other cartoonish vignettes in the United States follow several travelers and their families as they prepare for their Spanish American adventure. Smaller inset maps detail a two day excursion in Guatemala and Charles 'Lindy' Lindbergh's 1927-28 good-will tour through Latin America. At the center of the map a large inset details the luxurious accommodations available on board the Panama Mail Steamship.

Of Godwin's three known published (San Francisco, Hollywood and North America) this is the most obscure with only four known examples, all of which, with the exception of the present offering, in institutional collections. It was printed in San Francisco on March 1 of 1928.