The Mismapping of America (Map History) [Hardcover]

Seymour I. Schwartz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1580461298 | ISBN-13: 978-1580461290 | Publication Date: May 2, 2003 | Edition: First Edition

Maps have always been powerful instruments for the dissemination of information. Symbolizing the world, identifying landmasses and waterways, and defining our borders, maps help to create the context in which we live and the history that we study. At times, in projecting information, maps initiate or perpetuate errors. At times, explorers and cartographers have depicted fancies rather than facts, and wishes rather than wisdom. Maps have misinformed! The Mismapping of America presents and analyzes the significant cartographic errors that have shaped the history of the United States. Perhaps the most blatant error is the very name "America," that honors Amerigo Vespucci, who not only never set foot on North American soil, but also played no significant role in the discovery of South America. The appearance of the name "America" imprinted on a map ensured its permanence. Other significant errors explored in The Mismapping of America include: Giovanni da Verrazzano's misinterpretation of Pamlico or Albermarle Sound for the Pacific Ocean, thereby suggesting the presence of an isthmus in the middle of the North American continent, the existence of a direct North West passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the misconception that California was an island, and the insertion on Lake Superior of a fictitious island that is specifically referred to in defining the boundary of the United States. The inclusion of pertinent rare maps enhances this rich and revealing narrative of several intriguing episodes in the history of the geographic evolution of the United States. Seymour I. Schwartz is the Distinguished Alumni Professor of Surgery at the University of Rochester, and an expert on the history of mapping America. He is the coauthor of Mapping of America and author of The French and Indian War 1754-1763: The Imperial Struggle for North America and This Land is Your Land. He is also the editor of An Englishman's Journey Along Eastern Waterways /I

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Mismapping of America(is) an enjoyable book, packed with information and illustrated with 72 maps and portraits. THE PORTOLAN, Journal of the Washington Map Society Besides being an enjoyable read, researchers will most likely be interested in this book for the author's thorough research and the lists of suggested additional reading. -Western Association of Map Libraries Entertaining account...if you have any flair for things related to sea navigation, then I do not think you will be disappointed. David H. Gray, INTL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY

About the Author

Seymour I. Schwartz is the Distinguished Alumni Professor of the University of Rochester, and co-author of Mapping of America.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: University of Rochester Press; First Edition edition (May 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580461298
• ISBN-13: 978-1580461290
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,384,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical revelation, December 17, 2004

By 

W. Hooper (Duluth, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mismapping of America (Map History) (Hardcover)

Before you begin reading this book, beware...you will NOT be able to put it down. Also beware, put aside ALL of your preconceived notions regarding historical America's founding....and hold on to your hat.

Mr. Schwartz immediately takes us on a fascinating, fact-based journey into "THE BIG ONE"......the naming of America itself. He pieces together personalities, letters, and rare maps; and presents a clear, traceable historical path of what really happened. Truly a revelation!

This is not a book featuring large 9x12 color reproductions. All the maps are black and white, seldom 4x6. These colorized larger maps can be found in the references mentioned below. Rather, this book presents American history as we have never known with sufficient maps provided for clarity and direction.

Along with Schwartz' "The Mapping of America" and "Degrees of Latitude", Pritchard/Taliaferro, I consider "The Mismapping of America" essential to anyone interested in a significantly important, fact-based account of our real history.

As interest in American History rises (thank you C-Span) it is truly essential that we understand the basic fundamentals laid down by the earliest explorers and mapmakers..and the forces behind them. Schwartz presents this in an easy to read, factual masterpiece.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How fables shape history, January 10, 2007

By 

M. Buisman "Martijn Buisman" (Amsterdam, NL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mismapping of America (Map History) (Hardcover)

"The Mismapping of America" is a great book of 5 essays that explain some of the misunderstandings that we have about the map of America today and how past ideas about the shape of the continent have shaped exploration

- Essay 1 is about the naming of America. How did the continent get the name of a person who was just a minor officer on a ship that only reached as far north as Haiti.
- Essay 2 shows us maps of the Verrezano Sea, a non existant sea that still turned up on many maps and that was though to be some sort of North West Passage
- Essay 3 is about that Northwest passage
- Essay 4 about the way California has changed shapes. From island, to peninsula and back again, but ending up as peninusale once more.
- Essay 5 is a nice one about the mapping of the great lakes and the persistant drawing in of islands in those seas.

Really interesting book.