New York Subway Guide
New York: New York City Transit Authority, 1972. First printing. Color-coded route map. Single sheet approximately 18" x 21" printed on both sides. Folds to about 3 1/2" x 7" Fine.
Here is the important first printing of Massimo Vignelli's 1972 NYC Transit Authority map. Vignelli sacrificed geographic accuracy for simplicity, in the manner of Harry Beck's revolutionary London tube map of 1931.
Though now considered a landmark in modernist information design, New Yorkers hated Vignelli's map when it was unveiled in August of 1972. Particularly objectionable were the squashed gray Central Park, beige waterways, and geographically distorted spatial relationships between stations and boroughs. In fact Vignelli's map only lasted a few years before falling to public pressure.
This is the first state of the first edition of this groundbreaking map.
Item #826
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