1959 Mazoujian Pictorial Treasure Map of North and Central America

Entices the adventurous with the suggestion of buried treasure and lost fortunes, and of course 'X' marks the spot!

This is a 1959 Chuck Mazoujian pictorial treasure map of Central and North America. The map depicts the region from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean and from southern Canada to northern South America. As this is a treasure map, numerous different tales of lost treasure are referenced here, each of which provides a location and the amount of money supposedly hidden there. Each location is marked by a shovel and pick axe set in the form of and 'X', with the exception of eight, which are numerically identified. These eight locations are the 'interesting treasure locations of North America' and a more detailed story is recounted for them in an index situated along the bottom border. Among the treasures referenced is loot buried by notorious outlaws, such as Jesse James and John Dillinger, lost mines, and numerous shipwrecks. Pirates are profiled around the border, including Blackbeard, Mary Anne Blythe (known as the 'Strip Tease Pirate'), Jean LaFitte, and Henry Morgan.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Chuck Mazoujian and published by C.S. Hammond and Company in 1959. Two examples are present in institutional collections at Yale University and the Library of Congress. We are aware of only a handful of examples that have appeared on the private market.

Cartographers

Charles John 'Chuck' Mazoujian (August 24, 1917 - January 14, 2011) was an American artist and cartoonist. Born in New Jersey, Mazoujian attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and graduated in 1939. After graduation he began working at the Eisner and Iger studio on comics, and, after that partnership dissolved in 1940, followed Eisner to the new studio he started. While working for Eisner, Mazoujian created the comic strip 'Lady Luck', which debuted on June 2, 1940 and ran through May 11, 1941. He enlisted in the army on January 31, 1941 and served as an illustrator, with his work appearing in both official Army manuals as well as in civilian publications like Life Magazine. After the war, Mazoujian also taught figure drawing and painting at the Pratt Institute. In the early 1960s Mazoujian took a position as an illustrator for the New York advertising firm Ogilvy and Mather. His paintings appeared in the American Watercolor Society shows and Society of Illustrator shows, and he continued to paint until his death. Mazoujian married Edna Monson of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in 1942 and the couple had two children.   Further Details...

Caleb Stillson Hammond (November 27, 1862 - December 14, 1929) was an American map publisher and printing entrepreneur active in New York City during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the founder of C. S. Hammond and Company. Born in Rush, New York, he gained experience in the map trade as a sales representative for Rand McNally before establishing his own publishing concern in Brooklyn in 1900 and incorporating it in 1901. Early cartographic publications included folded maps of Panama and of Florida's steamship routes and railroad connections, both issued in 1903, followed by Hammond's Atlas of New York City and the Metropolitan District in 1907. These publications established two enduring branches of the business: maps of places attracting public attention and commissioned cartography for commercial customers. The firm developed an extensive range of world, historical, school, and thematic atlases, as well as separate maps and globes, and supplied cartographic material for other publishers' encyclopedias, dictionaries, religious works, and textbooks. Its metropolitan mapping included street and transit maps, freight-delivery maps, and maps of railroad terminal facilities. Hammond died in New York City on December 14, 1929; the business continued under family ownership and relocated to Maplewood, New Jersey, in the early 1950s. His grandson, Caleb D. Hammond, Jr. (1915 - 2006), became president in 1948. The company's assets were acquired by Langenscheidt Publishers in 1999, and in December 2002, the American Map Corporation, part of the Langenscheidt Publishing Group, donated the Hammond archives to the Library of Congress.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Even overall toning. Light wear along original fold lines. Closed margin tears professionally repaired on verso. Blank on verso.

References

LOC G3291.E75 1959. OCLC 5405197.