Mapping Indiana: Five Centuries of Treasures from the Indiana Historical Society compiled by Erin Kirchhoff, Eric L. Mundell, and Amy Vedra

Abstract

This year, Hoosiers celebrate the bicentennial of Indiana’s entry into the Union as the nineteenth state. This significant event provides the perfect occasion for publication of a beautifully produced and impressively
large and heavy book. Although Mapping Indiana appeared on the eve of the bicentennial, it has been in the works for ten years, and its content suggests progress in gaining historians’ acceptance of the map as
a historical document and not just an attractive illustration. Far too many scholars have ignored cartographic collections, including the treasuresof the Indiana Historical Society. But as this sampling of the society’s rich
map collection demonstrates, maps depict and document the structure upon which historical events were played out.