Striking Propaganda Map
"The Russian Spider Sits Atop the World and Watches for More Victims...",
Subject: World, World War II
Period: 1940 (published)
Publication: Los Angeles Examiner
Color: Printed Color
Size:
31.8 x 18.5 inches
80.8 x 47 cm
This boldly-colored map by Howard Burke served as the frontispiece to the January 7, 1940 issue of the Los Angeles Times. It covers all of Eurasia from Britain to Japan and is filled with captions reporting the latest Russian threats. The map was drawn at a time when the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had a short-lived alliance. The map appears to emphasize Russia as a larger threat than Nazi Germany with panels of text warning the reader: "To the west, beyond Finland, lie Sweden and Norway, also delectable morsels of earth. Will Russia seek to do by conquest what she has failed to do by propaganda...dominate the world?" A fascinating map issued only 5 months after the start of World War II.
References: Rumsey #8869.
Condition: B
Issued folding on newsprint with several short splits at the fold junctions with some small loss of image. There are several other small holes in the image mostly visible when held to light.
