Is there any Hollywood map more fun than Harrison Godwin's cartoon take on Tinseltown? Published at the close of the Silent Era, this rare pictorial map is a cinephile's dream, presenting the history of Hollywood with splashy and irreverent illustrations of movie stars, local landmarks, and behind-the-scenes hijinx. The map spans from Cahuenga Pass south to Wilshire Country Club, and from Fairfax east to Western Ave. Among the notable locations on display are Griffith Park, the Hollywood Bowl (depicted quite literally), Grauman's Egyptian and Chinese theaters, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, United Artists Studio, Warner Bros. Studios, and Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Major movie stars appear throughout the map, including "It Girl" Clara Bow, Greta Garbo, Mary Pickford (Hollywood's first millionaire), Rudolph Valentino, William Powell, Lillian Gish, Lon Chaney (as "the Miracle Man"), Gloria Swanson, Will Rogers, Joan Crawford, and, of course, Charlie Chaplin, whose studio is depicted with references to The Circus and Charlie's New Job. Al Jolson sings "Mammmm-mie" in blackface atop Warner Bros., referencing The Jazz Singer, the first ever sound picture, released just a year prior to the map's publication. Surrounding the map is a film strip border with an illustrated timeline of Hollywood history spanning from Padre Junipero Serra arriving from Spain with a suitcase in hand in 1769 to the booming Hollywood of 1927, with a population of 140,000, 19 studios, and 250 production companies. There are two insets in the corners at bottom: Chart of Hollywood Marking Some of the Old Landmarks and Historical Events and the sillier Hollywood as Imagined by One Who Has Never Been There, which paints the town as a ridiculous land of opportunity.

In addition to his Hollywood map, Harrison Godwin (1899-1984) produced a map of San Francisco (1927) and Panama Mail S.S. The Sea Coastes of America... (1928). The Hollywood map was also published in a less colorful pink-and-yellow tinted edition. Published by Godwin's brother Fred, for the Hollywood Athletic Club. The brothers' imprints are cleverly presented on a projectionist's stand, with the title projected onto the title cartouche. The Godwin brothers were later successful hoteliers in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

References: Rumsey #10004.

Condition: B+

A colorful example with archival repairs to a 4.5” edge tear and two 1.75” edge tears all at bottom, as well as several short repaired edge tears at left and right that just enter the border. There is a small chip confined to the bottom left blank margin. The map was previously stored rolled and does not lay flat on its own.