Hopkins, Martha and Michael Buscher. Language of the Land: The Library of Congress Book of Literary Maps. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1999. 304 p., many plates, some col. ISBN 0-8444-0963-4, $50.

This lavishly illustrated catalog of more than 200 literary maps held by the Library of Congress began its life as a cartobibliographic project undertaken to support an exhibit entitled Language of the Land: Journeys into Literary America mounted by the Library in 1993. (Note: this exhibit is still available online at http://lcweb.loc.gov.exhibits/land.) The authors define a “literary map” as “a map that records the location and identity of geographical places and features associated with authors and their works and serves as a guide to the worlds of novelists, poets, dramatists, and other authors of imaginative literature.” This definition embraces several types of maps, including maps compiled to show the literary heritage of particular countries, regions, localities, and cultures; maps appearing in specific literary works; and maps of imaginary worlds, legends, and folktales. Of these, the first category, consisting largely of twentieth-century maps illustrating the literary landscapes of the United States and parts thereof, are best represented here. Some of the maps relating to specific authors and works will be more familiar to readers. These include many maps previously described either in J. B. Post’s Atlas of Fantasy or Manguel and Guadalupi’s Dictionary of Imaginary Places, but also many maps from Eastern Bloc publishers that have escaped earlier compilations. The illustrations, including a large section of color plates, are usually too small to read in detail, but they are sharp and provide a clear impression of the content and style of each item. The annotations are helpful, though they are occasionally repetitive and tilt more toward description than insight. Hopkins’s introduction provides an insightful overview of the history of the genre, focusing in particular on publishers that specialized in American literary heritage maps. Language of the Land will not only entertain many idly curious readers but will go a long way towards establishing this largely neglected genre as a legitimate object of study.

James R. Akerman
The Newberry Library