The Southeast in Early Maps by William P. Cumming (review)

186 So u th ea stern G eo g r a ph er The Southeast in Early Maps. William P. Cumming. Third edition. Revised and enlarged by Louis De Vorsey, Jr. University ofNorth Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1998. xiv + 362 pp., 71 pp. of plates: ill., maps (some col.); 32 cm. Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies. $90.00 (ISBN: 0807823716; OCLC: 37928591). Johnnie D. Sutherland The definitive reference work on the cartography of the Southeast during the colonial period has been TheSoutheast inEarly Maps. Thejust-published and longanticipated third edition, as enlarged and revised by Louis De Vorsey, is much improved over earliereditions and therefore an even more important basic reference tool for the researcher and collector. The two earlier editions (1958 and 1962) were printed in very limited numbers, and their price on the used book market had risen to the $400-plus range. This new, enlarged edition with excellent illustrations, priced at $90.00, makes the work readily available to most libraries and researchers. This is a major revision that replaces the earlier editions for most researchers. However, there has been no radical departure from the original scheme of map number identification, and the Cumming map numbering system has been main­ tained. The new edition contains (1) Cumming’s introductory essay on the historical cartography ofthe region; (2) a new section, written by De Vorsey, on the role of Native Americans in the mapping ofthe Southeast; (3) an updated annotated check­ list ofprinted and manuscript maps ofthe Southeast during the colonial period; (4) an updated bibliography; (5) a chronological title list of maps; (6) an alphabetical short-title list ofmaps; and (7) an index. The major structural changes from the organization ofthe earliereditions make this edition a more logical and easier-to-use reference tool. The original essay by De Vorsey, titled “American Indians and the Early Mapping of the Southeast,” is a major addition to the third edition. The illustration section has been enlarged and visually enhanced. The section in the earlier editions entitled “Reproductions of Maps,” composed of short descriptions of the 67 map reproductions, has been removed, and descriptive text for all of the reproduced maps in the new edition is included in the section “List of Maps.” Several major changes have been made in the appendixes, with two in the earlier editions being omitted from the new edition, “Appendix B: Indian Tribes and Settlements” and “Appendix C: Political Divisions, Boundary Lines, and Roads.” Two appendixes in the earlier editions have been Mr. Sutherland is Curator ofMaps andHead ofthe Map Collection, Univer­ sity ofGeorgia Libraries, University ofGeorgia, Athens, GA 30602-7412. Vol. XXXVIII, No. 2 187 shifted in the third edition: “Appendix D: Bibliographies Which List Maps of the Southeast Made after 1775” is now included in the “Selected Bibliography” in the “List of Maps” section; “Appendix A: Chief Type Maps in the Cartography of Southeastern North America” is now an appendix to the end of Cumming’s intro­ ductory essay. The center ofthe work, the extensive annotated checklist ofprinted and manu­ script local and regional maps from the colonial period, has been updated. Where new maps have been added, a system of letters is used to fit the new map into the earlier editions’map numbering system, so that researchers can continue to use the Cumming map numbers as they have in the past. Where additional research has resulted in a change of date for a particular map, no change has been made in the map’s number orplacement in the “List ofMaps,” but the corrected date is given in the entry. The “Chronological Title List of Maps” does give the maps in correct chronological order. The essay “American Indians and the Early Mapping ofthe Southeast,” a new section written for the third edition, discusses the Native American contribution to the mapping of the region. De Vorsey describes the Native American roles as guides, informants, and mapmakers and the issues involved in understanding how they contributed to European maps. An interesting table at the end ofthe essay out­ lines the distinctive features ofNative American mapping and contrasts them to the equivalent European traits. Visually appealing, the book has 124 illustrations, 24 in...