The Life of Christ. A Map "Of Those Things Which Are Most Surely Believed Among Us."
- Title:
- The Life of Christ. A Map "Of Those Things Which Are Most Surely Believed Among Us."
- Alternate Title:
- The Life of Christ
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Hunner, Isabella Stevens
- Other Creators:
- John Day Company, publisher
- Date:
- 1929
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2425.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2425_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1920 - 1939
- Subject:
- Pictorial
Religion - Measurement:
- 83 x 61 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This rare poster is an excellent example of a "Sunday School Map," a large map of the Holy Land intended to be hung on the wall of a classroom and used to instill religious doctrine. This particular map is cited, and its use well described, in a Catholic handbook on the teaching of young people, "Handing on the Faith - A Manual of Catechetics," set out below:
"The Church and her activities are the foundation for the history of redemption. This history can be presented to the children in pictures. . . . Those of special value are of a large size . . . and are visible to the entire class. It should be evident that such pictures should be the work of true artists . . . . Extremely forceful pictures which succeeded in leaving an indelible imprint on their souls in childhood will continue to exert a profound influence for their entire lives. . . . As illustrations of a purely didactic nature we must mention wall maps . . . . In order that the maps of the holy land may be effective from a catechetical standpoint it is important that historical and biblical events in miniature form be inserted on them at those places where they actually happened . . . . maps of this kind [include] I.S. Hunner, The Life of Christ (The John Day Co.)." Jungmann 1959, 224-27.
This map checks all the boxes. The work is large and artistic. The map is filled with pictures of events "at those places where they actually happened." Further pictures surround the map, with parables at the top and bottom, "Things Which Happened In and About the Galilee" at the left, and "Which Happened in Jerusalem" at the right. The map itself is undated, but we know its date of publication from the Saturday Review of Literature, October 5, 1929, p. 222, which noted that "I.S. Hunner has drawn a map of the principal incidents in the 'Life of Christ,' which the John Day Company is publishing. It is brightly colored and most ingenious."
Isabella Stevens Hunner (later Parsons) was a Baltimore native who graduated from Goucher College in 1926. After studying at the Maryland Institute (now Maryland Institute College of Art) and the Kunstgewerschule in Munich, she became a freelance commercial artist in New York (where the John Day Company was based). In 1930, she returned to Baltimore, and "shifted her focus to portraiture and floral paintings." http://portraitcollection.jhmi.edu/artists/isabella-h-parsons, accessed December 6, 2019.
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.