The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Lost States: The Stories of Lands that Never Were

Two of our obsessions — quirky history trivia and map books — converge in Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It — a fascinating and beautifully illustrated chronicle of states that almost were, based on the excellent blog of the same name.

From Mormon migrations to a 19th-century plan for relocating Germany to Texas, author Michael Trinklein tells the bizarre, outlandish, alternate-reality stories of epic geopolitical fails, augmented with stunning full-color original maps of the visions for these imaginary states, alongside images of real-life artifacts and ephemera from the time of their conception.

Though not all the states described were seriously considered for statehood, it’s still an engrossing and priceless peek at the strange, though not entirely nonsensical, ideas history’s horsemen entertained.

Lost States is equal parts fascinating and funny, a curiosity-tickler for the history geek and an absolute treat for the design aficionado.


Published January 21, 2011

https://www.themarginalian.org/2011/01/21/lost-states/

BP

www.themarginalian.org

BP

PRINT ARTICLE

Filed Under

View Full Site

The Marginalian participates in the Bookshop.org and Amazon.com affiliate programs, designed to provide a means for sites to earn commissions by linking to books. In more human terms, this means that whenever you buy a book from a link here, I receive a small percentage of its price, which goes straight back into my own colossal biblioexpenses. Privacy policy. (TLDR: You're safe — there are no nefarious "third parties" lurking on my watch or shedding crumbs of the "cookies" the rest of the internet uses.)