1960 Lepper Pictorial Map of the Maine Coast

Coastal Maine's shipbuilding heritage.

Focusing on the role historically played by the region, this c. 1960 Ruth Rhoads Lepper pictorial map of the Maine coast promotes the historic sailing ships built here and the region's many historic buildings. Over a dozen illustrations of ocean-going vessels highlight mid-coast Maine's shipbuilding prowess. Lepper provides each ship's name, its tonnage, the year it was launched, and either where it was built or other facts about the ship. Views of historic buildings, including St. Patrick's, the oldest Catholic church in Maine and the Lincoln County Jail and Museum, also lend an air of history to the piece. Cities and towns throughout the region are labeled, many of which are also accompanied by their year of incorporation. Charming views of New Harbor, Round Pond, and the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club also appear.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn and published by Ruth Rhoads Lepper c. 1960. The present example dates from the second edition (as noted in the lower right corner). We have seen references that suggest there are as many as three editions of this map, a first edition published c. 1954, this example, and a third edition published c. 1970. Two examples of this map are cataloged in OCLC and are part of the collection at the University of Maine at Orono and the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

Cartographer

Ruth Rhoads Lepper Gardner (June 27, 1905 - April 16, 2011) was an American cartographer and artist known for her work along the coast of Maine. Born in Norwood, Massachusetts, Gardner attended Pembroke College of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Museum School at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She also received an art education from her artistic aunt, Annie L. Cox, as a young woman and had the opportunity to travel the world with her as her protégé. Gardner also lived in Greenwich Village in New York City as a young woman and remembered Wall Street financiers leaping to their deaths during the Great Depression. She served as an artist-in-residence at the Maine Sea Coast Mission in the 1940s, where she captured hundreds of scenes of life in Maine through pen-and-ink drawings while traveling aboard the Mission's ship Sunbeam III. During World War II, Gardner worked as a cartographer for the Navy, where she met her future husband, Cornelius Gardner. The couple married in 1947. It was during her time in the Navy that Gardner developed a love of cartography and, after the war, began producing pictorial maps of the Maine coast and the history of Maine.   Further Details...

Condition

Average. Exhibits some marginal chipping. Closed large tear professionally repaired on verso extending into printed area.

References

OCLC 181656021.