Mapping the West (It Happened in) (Hardcover)

~ Paul Cohen (Author), David Rumsey (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Compiling maps drawn by Spanish, French and British explorers, as well as documents from the California gold rush, the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Northern Pacific Railroad, this book intelligently chronicles the history of map-making in the Western U.S. Cohen (co-author of Manhattan in Maps) brings together over 65 significant and often beautiful maps-many of which have never been published before-and annotates them with fascinating stories. Besides offering an index of our fluctuating ideas of geography, mineral deposits and demographic distributions over the Western states, many of these maps are simply wonderful to look at, as they are filled with colored borders, rivers and tributaries, as well as mesas and mountains. Among the most gorgeous is a map depicting the Battle of Little Bighorn by One Bull (the Hunkpapa Lakota warrior-artist and nephew of Sitting Bull), and one 1720 map of the Southwest by Spanish military officer Francisco Alvarez Barreiro. This book could fit easily in the library of any geographer or art lover.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Maps are among our most basic documents, and when we examine them, we are at the roots of history. In Mapping the West we can locate the campsites of the Lewis and Clark expedition; see the maps that enticed emigrants to abandon their lives in Europe to establish themselves in California; and look at military maps used during the Mexican War. Large and small occurrences make their way onto maps, bringing to life the events that have created the American mythology. . . . In Mapping the West, salient examples are brought together to tell the impressive story of the mapping of this vast, harardous, awesome, and hitherto obscure land."--David Rumsey, from the introduction

"This breathtakingly sumptuous and elegant volume reminds us of a time when the entire American continent still seemed strange--and it reminds us of the irresistible pull that conquered that strangeness. These riveting artifacts of an age of discovery bear witness to a time when much of the earth's surface was terra incognita, when human beings still held their breath before the richness, mystery and impenetrable strangeness of the world."--Ric Burns
-- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications; 1st Edition. edition (November 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847824926
• ISBN-13: 978-0847824922
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,056,231 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Collector's Delight, November 26, 2002

By	R. Chitwood "dalbob" (Plano, Tx USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can recommmend this book in three ways-as a coffee table book, as a map collector's reference book, and as a history book. As a book out on your living room table, visitors will be sure to pick it up and review it. As a collector's reference it is wonderful. A good overview of various maps, some one of a kind, with a great writeup on each map and mapmaker. It may become a "reference" book, whereby the maps shown are more desirable to collectors simply because they are listed in "Cohen". Finaly, it is a great history book dealing with the exploration of America westward. Highly recommend to anyone interested in maps and mapping, or in American history.