This is the first book to catalog comparative maps and tableaux that visualize the heights and
lengths of the world's mountains and rivers. Produced predominantly in the nineteenth century
these beautifully rendered maps emerged out of the tide of exploration and scientific
developments in measuring techniques. Beginning with the work of explorer Alexander von
Humboldt these historic drawings reveal a world of artistic and imaginative difference. Many
of them give way—and with visible joy—to the power of fantasy in a mesmerizing array of
realistic and imaginary forms. Most of the maps are from the David Rumsey Historical Map
Collection at Stanford University.
