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Antique 1923 Yosemite Travel Brochure & Gunnar Widforss Centerfold Map
This is an extraordinary and remarkably well-preserved piece of California tourism history. Published in 1923, this 38-page brochure was issued by the Yosemite Transportation System (YTS) during a transformative era when "Motor Car Operations" were replacing stagecoaches, opening the High Sierra to a new generation of automobile tourists.
The centerpiece of this item is the spectacular centerfold "Bird's-Eye" relief map, which bears the signature of Gunnar Widforss (noted as "Widforss" in the lower corner). Widforss, often called the "Painter of the National Parks," was a Swedish-American watercolorist who lived in Yosemite from 1921 to 1926. His work was so technically accurate that Stephen Mather, the first Director of the National Park Service, personally encouraged him to focus on documenting the parks. Finding his commercial illustration work in this "near-mint" condition is a significant discovery for collectors of Western art and National Park history.
Specifications
Title: Yosemite All-Year-Round National Park - California
Publisher: Yosemite Transportation System (YTS)
Artist: Gunnar Widforss (Centerfold Relief Map)
Date: 1923 (Original First Printing)
Pages: 38 numbered pages plus covers
Key Features: Widforss color relief map and 1923 hotel/lodge rate sheets.
Dimensions: Approximately 9" x 4" (folded)
Condition
Factual condition is Antique / Near-Mint Survival. It is rare to find a century-old paper item in such exceptionally clean condition:
The Map: The Widforss color map is vibrant with sharp registration and no tears at the delicate fold lines.
Structural Integrity: The binding is tight and secure; there are no split seams or detached pages.
Paper Quality: The pages are remarkably crisp. The paper remains supple and lacks the brittleness common to 1920s documents.
Exterior: The iconic orange cover is bold with only negligible handling wear.
