Mercator Map of the World — Ernest Dudley Chase (1931)

A sweeping Art-Deco vision of the world between the wars

Elegant, confident, and unmistakably modern, this 1931 Mercator World Map by Ernest Dudley Chase, published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, captures the world at a moment of extraordinary transition. Aviation was shrinking distances, radio was collapsing borders, and global travel was becoming a lived reality. Chase’s map reflects that new worldview — a planet no longer mysterious, but connected, navigable, and within reach.

Rendered in his signature Art-Deco graphic style, the map blends bold typography, clean geometry and rich colour into one of the most beautiful world maps ever produced for the golden age of modern travel.

This is not just a map.
It is the world as it was first experienced as truly global.

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🌍 What This Map Shows

This is a classic Mercator projection, designed for navigation, trade and long-distance travel — the projection that defined how the modern world learned to see itself.

• The entire world in Mercator projection — the map of oceans,航 and navigation

• Continents, nations and major cities as they stood in 1931

• Sea routes and global connectivity in the age of steamships and airliners

• Elegant Art-Deco typography for country and ocean names

• Period colour palette that radiates early-20th-century modernism

• Balanced, wall-scale layout that remains readable from across the room

This is the map that sat on the walls of airlines, shipping offices, newsrooms and universities during the era when the modern world was being wired together.

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🧭 Why This Map Works

Most modern maps show geography.
This one shows how the world was first understood as a single system.

• Mercator projection — the foundation of navigation, trade and exploration

• Art-Deco design language — bold, optimistic, unmistakably 1930s

• Historic snapshot — the world just before WWII reshaped everything

• Museum-grade graphic quality — designed by one of America’s great map artists

• Striking visual presence — it transforms any room into a global command centre

People don’t just look at this map — they step into its era.

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✨ Premium Finishes

Every Ernest Dudley Chase World Map is printed in Australia using archival production methods to ensure outstanding clarity, colour fidelity and long-term durability.

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📐 Size

1000 mm (W) × 725 mm (H)
A generous landscape format that gives the typography, oceans and continental forms room to breathe — ideal for feature walls and executive spaces.

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🎯 Ideal For

• Art-Deco and vintage design lovers

• World map collectors

• Libraries, universities and schools

• Travel agencies and aviation history fans

• Home studies and global-minded interiors

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🤝 Our Commitment

• Printed in Australia with professional colour management

• Archival pigment inks for long-term colour stability

• Premium laminates and canvas for durability and impact

• Natural timber hang rails for elegant presentation

• Hand-checked and carefully packed before dispatch

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The world of 1931 was bold, optimistic and on the move.
Choose your finish and let Ernest Dudley Chase’s Art-Deco vision bring that golden age of global travel to your wall.