A Literary Map of the United States

Scarce pictorial celebration of America’s literary history and diversity published by the Scholastic Corporation.

This image of the continental United States is filled with references and illustrations of many of America’s most popular, influential and successful authors and poets. Well known classics from fiction and non-fiction are listed throughout, such as The Jungle, Gone with the Wind, and even the Gettysburg Address. Images of famous characters like Paul Bunyan, Uncle Tom, and Huck Finn are shown near the locations in which they first entered the American literary conscious.

There were some liberties taken, however. For example, A Study in Scarlet can be found in Utah, despite only a portion of the book taking place there and the author, Arthur Conan Doyle, being an Englishman. Inset maps of New England, Manhattan Island and New Jersey reflect the rich origin of material from those regions, and the “Rivers of America” series are labeled using a symbol of an open book. The series began in 1937 and would run until 1974, ultimately being comprised of sixty five volumes written about specific geographical areas mostly by novelists or poets with a connection to the region.

The Scholastic Corporation began in 1920 as The Western Pennsylvania Scholastic, a four page publication that covered local sports and activities published by Maurice Robinson. He and his son, the current CEO, developed the brand into the large multinational publishing house that it is today, perhaps best known for the ubiquitous Scholastic Book Fairs that take place in schools across the country.