becomes “The Domain of Washington in the District of Columbia.” “Everything on the maps is drawn freehand based on looking at other maps, but I do my best to stay accurate to the real geography,” Danielson says. Here, humble Philly becomes “The Realm of Philadelphia in the Kingdom of Pennsylvania ” D.C.
“Throughout my childhood I made hundreds of maps of imaginary and fantastical places, in a variety of styles cribbed from different fantasy novels.”
“My love of maps started when I first read The Lord of the Rings in third grade,” Danielson tells Co.Design in an email. Stentor Danielson, a geographer based in Pittsburgh, borrows Tolkien’s whimsical cartographic style to map out major American cities as fantasy lands of castles and dragons, all hand drawn in ye olde pen and ink.
