Books…why so few maps?

[Pritchett Ball]

Two of my favorite books I have in my personal library are; Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg, by Timothy B. Smith, and Last Stand in the Carolinas: The Battle of Bentonville, by Mark L. Bradley

What sets these two books apart for me is they are stocked full of MAPS!

I would never have understood how the Battle of Champion Hill see-sawed back and forth, without the maps showing me the progression of the battle. Having Ancestors in the 39th GA, and 31st Mississippi that fought there, I had a keen interest in knowing what happened. Timothy Smith helped me understand what happened, because of the many maps he included in the book.

Bradley’s book on the Battle of Bentonville also did a good job in that respect, again some of my 39th GA. and 31st Miss. Ancestors fought there also!

So, why do so many books on the Battles of the WBTS, not include adequate maps?
Respectfully:

Kevin Dally

[Becky Morgan]

Re: Books…why so few maps?

Back when, small-run books were expensive to begin with, and every halftone added to the price. Newer techniques have made that not such a concern, but old habits die hard.

You're right about good maps jumping out at you. I have two books at present, one stuffed with informative maps and other illustrations, one stuffed...literally, in pockets within the pages...with reproductions of maps that had importance during the WBTS. It's one thing to read about Jedediah Hotchkiss' mapping abilities, and another to hold a repro of one of his maps and see the detail. (Both books are in the other house at the moment, or I'd quote author and title, at least.) I couldn't "get" what happened to my people at Chancellorsville until a map showed me how the Federal flank rolled up.

The only thing better than a series of good maps for understanding a battle's movements is a good animation well scaled to time.

[LWhite64]

Re: Books…why so few maps?

Its a publication thing, maps are expensive to print, so a lot of presses, particularly University Presses are not very fond of them. Both Champion Hill and Bentonville were done by Ted Savas, and Ted loves maps, hence his new series, Maps of Gettysburg, Maps of Bull Run, and Maps of Chickamauga.

Lee

[Pritchett Ball]

Re: Books…why so few maps?

Becky, Lee:

Thank you for your replies...I looked up the name Ted Savas, and came up with a site where he comments on the subject we are talking about...

http://cwba.blogspot.com/2007/03/publisher-q-theodore-p-savas-on.html

Thanks for the lead!

Kevin Dally

[Gary of CA]

Re: Books…why so few maps?

Ted does raise some valid points. Cost. The publisher wants to keep it down and the author, if (s)he doesn't have maps, will have to have them prepared and that costs the author money. Even if maps were prepared and available, the publisher may not want to use all of them because of the same reason - cost. Maps take up space and paper. The less printed, the cheaper the book.

I learned that in my own book project. I couldn't afford to pay a cartographer and used maps I could find that were in public domain. Cost is everything when you're on a budget.

[Pritchett Ball]

Re: Books…why so few maps?

"Maps take up space and paper. The less printed, the cheaper the book."

I can understand that, though not ever having written a book. I then have to fire back what good is it to write something, and not include something to make better understood WHAT was taking place!

Isn't that one of the reasons to write books in the first place!
Thanks for all the responces.
Respectfully:

Kevin Dally

[Becky Morgan]

Re: Books…why so few maps?

Yep. I had to pay upfront for my local histories (Closson Press; they do mostly genealogies, but have an interest in history as well.) It was a big deal when halftones went from $12 each to $8.
Now, with print on demand and everything submitted as a .pdf, the number of images won't matter. Quality is still going to be an issue, however. It's likely to be expensive to do really good reproductions of large-format camera prints, no matter what their original medium, and we'll always sacrifice some detail by printing them small enough for most books. Look how often we've all pored over one of the LOC images, enlarging some part of the iomage to look at sleeve lace or the like.
Oh...one of the books I mentioned is Illustrated Atlas of the Civil War, Time-Life Books, original printing 1991. It appears to be a partial reprint of Echoes of Glory. I have the 2006 trade paperback.

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Books…why so few maps?

This is Virginia's spouse responding.

The contents of any book are a compromise, like everything else in life. A publisher and author have to judge when the cost of producing a book will be too great for them to make a reasonable return on their investment. While in an ideal world authors could provide all the detail they wanted for a really complete understanding and the public would recognize the value and compensate them appropriately, in the real world things don't work that way. Having written books for a niche market, the payoff is usually less than minimum wage by the time you figure in all your research and production time. Printers like to make some kind of profit and niche books are always a big risk.

So yes, you write books for people to obtain an understanding of the subject but until people start showering authors of detailed history books with money, they will have to limit their detail to what they can afford to sell. And if you have any doubts, write a book and take a draft to a printer and see what it will cost. Then add your advertising and distribution costs and estimate how long it will take you to sell enough books to make back your production expenses. And don't forget to estimate how many books it will take to saturate the market of people interested in that much detail and how many of your publishing run you will have sitting in your basement or garage.

Michael Mescher

[Gary of CA]

Re: Books…why so few maps?

Print-on-demand doesn't necessarily equate to a quality book. It may be a fine for a small paperback and I have some that are satisfactory, but when one is working with on a book that is hundreds of pages long, one might just consider smyth sewn for durability and longevity over mere glued bindings. Other considerations include the opacity of the paper. Do the images or letters bleed through to the other side of the page? How about the PH quality? Akaline paper preferred for longevity or tree-pulp based paper that will self-destruct. Paper covered and if so, type of paper or do you prefer hardback (with what weight and color endsheets and weight of cardboard). If hardback is preferred, is it kydex (plastic surface that can be made to simulate leather or be printed on) or cloth (and if cloth, what color)? Dustjacket?

Returning to the subject of maps, great maps enhances a book's value. Everything Ted Savas said is right and after all, he is both an author and a publisher. However, the finances must be considered including the return on the investment. Will either the author or the publisher get a decent return on the dollars for having paid someone to prepare good maps? If yes, then there's no excuse. If no, then it's better to get the information out to the public than forego publication. Ted has actually put out several great map books including one on Manassas and another on Gettysburg. Both are great for carrying around those battlefields.

Another good book with maps are the series of books on fortifications built by both sides during the war in Virginia by Professor Earl Hess. They are Field Armies and Fortifications, Trench Warfare Under Grant and Lee, Trench Warfare at Petersburg. A few years ago I took the first one out into the field with me and had a jolly time looking around. His books are worth the money and I highly recommend them.