Provides a brief history of cartography -- beginning with "Mapmaking, in the sense of making symbolic representations of configurations observed in the terrain or the heavens, must be a very ancient human activity, older than writing and at least as old as art."

The work is imbued with the idea that maps exemplify science and printing and tell the story of America's discovery, exploration and settlement, more vividly than words.

The plates are beautiful and I also enjoyed the portraits of mapmakers and navigators. For example, the most famous portrait of Columbus we find was painted 40 years after his death -- how was that done? From a drawing?

Includes brief biographies of the selected mapmakers. The information on John Mitchell notes that the American physician, chemist, biologist and botanist emigrated to England in 1746. In 1755, he made the most important map in US history: A Map of the British and French Dominions in North Amerca with Roads, Distances, Limits and Extent of the Settlements".

Inexplicably, the famous and "most important map in US history" made by the American emigre polymath, John Mitchell (1690-1768) is missing. And although Benjamin Franklin's picture appears, and he is introduced as a cartographer, his chart of the Gulf Stream is not included.

With 200 full color and 100 b&w illustrations and Index. Contains 180 extensively captioned maps and valuable background information on such subjects as the history of cartography, the history of New World exploration, and the evolution of mapmaking techniques.