Mapping Nature across the Americas Available to Purchase

Mapping Nature across the Americas is a collection of analytical essays developed during the 2014 summer institute of the same name for college and university professors held at the Newberry Library and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. An introduction by the editors is followed by twelve chapters by separate authors, each exploring aspects of historical mapping of the Americas. The overarching theme is a close study of every aspect of historical maps: examining maps’ creators, the changes seen in maps over time, and the knowledge that can be derived from maps. Topics include examination of how European explorers incorporated Indigenous knowledge, languages, and visual symbols in developing their maps of the New World; the antebellum shellfish industry as a route to emancipation; the mapping challenges posed by the incompatibility of rigid political boundaries with shifting landscape along the U.S.-Mexico border; the historical development of graphical presentation of...