Maclure's geological map of the United States

Image file

Maclure’s geological map of the United States

Caption

Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.

Catalog notes

Geological color transforms a general map of the United States into an argument about what lies beneath the landscape. Maclure’s early national-scale work shows how a familiar geographic base can carry a new kind of scientific information. It provides a useful contrast with political boundaries and transport routes elsewhere in the collection. Readers can explore the ambition of the classification while recognizing that the geological categories belong to the science of its time.

Original catalog record, source and attribution