The Perfect Map for Book Lovers

"Karte des Bucherlandes",

This fictional map by Alphons Woelfle depicts the land of books. Every place name in the map relates to the world of books. The map centers on the United States of Booksellers with the capital of Officiana (Printing Workshop), which is shown as a bird's-eye plan in an inset, and straddles the Paper River. Surrounding regions are named Reader's Republic ("Leser Republik"), Realm of Book Reviewers ("Recensentia"), Waste Paper Land ("Makulaturia"), and Poetry Land ("Poesia"). At the top of the map is a mountain range from which the Source of Knowledge ("Urquell des Wissens") flows, eventually making its way to the Sea of New Releases ("Meer der neu Erscheinungen"). At bottom is a lovely vignette of the personification of Literature, reading a book while watching the sunset. The title cartouche further embodies the theme of knowledge and wisdom with the figure of an owl. The map is accompanied by the original printed label that confirms that the map was hand colored and published by Heimeran in München. Original pre-war editions of this map are rare on the market, which were reproduced in a slightly smaller format in the 1960s.

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Condition: B+

Full contemporary hand color with minor toning, a few small spots of foxing at bottom, and a tiny hole adjacent to the compass rose that has been professionally repaired.