Virginia in maps: four centuries of settlement, growth, and development

Virginia is possessed of one of the longest and most richly recorded histories in Anglo-America. Now it has an imposing atlas that explicates a vast tangle of archival sources. Virginia in Maps has been published in large format (11 by 15 inches) and provides reproductions of 187 of the more important maps of the colony and the state whose dates range from 1585 (manuscript map of Roanoke Island and the Outer Banks) to the 1998-99 edition of the state highway map. Most of the maps reproduced were provided by the Library of Virginia (92) and the Library of Congress (68). This fine cartographic display is accompanied by five essays: "Westward Vision: The Seventeenth Century"; "Colony to Commonwealth: The Eighteenth Century"; "Building Virginia: The Antebellum Years"; "An Unfamiliar Country: The Civil War"; and "From Saddle Bags to Satellites." These narratives provide the maps with context and have been written by established historians of cartography. End matter includes notes on contributors, list of maps, selected bibliography, and index. The atlas constitutes an essential reference work and is withal a valuable resource for both the novitiate historian and the accomplished scholar. G. J. Martin; emeritus, Southern Connecticut State University