The Mapping of America.

363 S. Umschlag leicht berieben, sonst gutes Exemplar. - In maps, history comes to life before one's eyes. So in THE MAPPING OF AMERICA we watch our nation take shape, from the first tentative chartings to the satellites' overviews of today; we see the explorers' westward push, the settlers' quest, and the growing need for defense, for transport, and for information - especially after the discovery of gold brought the West Coast into the Eastern limelight. Here is a book wholly new, totally fascinating. Never before has a project of these dimensions been assembled. The authors have combed all major collections of maps of America, public and private, to bring together this rich display. War produces many maps, of course, but so does peace: plats for new towns, maps for canals and railroads, for postal service, insurance rates, and traffic density. And, to round out our picture of each period, 131 illustrations of all kinds of related subjects enliven the pages along with the maps and text. If this were not enough, there is the extraordinary pull of the maps themselves. Some are beautiful as works of art, others are hasty sketches made in the wilderness. Some are haunting records of struggles long past, others are finished examples of the cartographer's science and skill. Unique manuscript maps in pen and ink vie with maps reproduced in woodcut, engraving, lithography and its cousin cerography, and by photographic processes; many are in colors, or with hand-colored vignettes and boundaries; they may be on paper, vellum, or cloth. Small wonder that the study and collecting of maps has always been a field intensely cultivated by connoisseurs. Looking at these 223 maps, 84 reproduced in full color, we see the continent discovered and partly explored, the nation wrested free, its boundaries established, and its resources charted as thirteen states become fifty in number. There is something here for every reader! The lavish captions, two bibliographies, and extensive index make this enthralling material easy to enjoy. (Verlagstext). ISBN 9780810913073