In Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, a review of George R. Stewart’s Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States, a 1945 work on place names in the United States. Bill Kauffman’s review “a learned and rollicking act of patriotic toponymy. Its republication, with a graceful introduction by Matt Weiland, is a welcome reminder that the polyglot medley on our maps is, as Mr. Stewart says, ‘a chief glory of our heritage.’” It does sound more opinionated and irreverent than, say, Mark Monmonier’s From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow (review); checking my copy of Monmonier’s book, it looks like Stewart published two more books about place names in the 1970s. Thanks to Richard for the link.

• Buy Names on the Land at Amazon.com
• Buy From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow at Amazon.com