Wonders of New York

A production of the utmost weirdness, this is a fun-fact-filled dramatic 1953 pictorial map of New York City by the flamboyant Swedish-American artist, Nils Birger Hansell. Covering the  Manhattan from roughly the Battery to  96th street, the map presents a scene of bustling modernity with a humorous twist. Nils illustrates the architectural and entertainment wonders, and general curiosities, of New York City, successfully evoking the city’s inspiring creative spirt. The map was perhaps inspired by the work of Charles Vernon Farrow, who made a similar map of New York in 1927 entitled, A Map of the Wondrous Isle of Manhattan. While cartographically similar, Nils’ map is far more playful and flamboyant. The map is surrounded by a whimsical pictorial order illustrating day-to-day life scenes from the 1950’s New York. Some 301 sites, individuals, events, are located throughout and referenced numerically.