Catalogue:  Anthologies

Home Book of the Picturesque: Or American Scenery, Art and Literature

 

Essays by Various Authors

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1852 - G.P. Putnam

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Elaborately bound in dark greenish full Morocco boards with intricate gilt designs on front and rear covers, gilt turn-ins and edges.  Thirteen full-page plates containing steel engravings of paintings by Thomas Cole, Frederick Church, Asher Durand (to whom the book is dedicated), J.F. Cropsey, R.F. Gignoux and seven others, and engraved by S.V. Hunt, among others.  VG

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Published to capitalize on American's new-found interest in the natural environment and scenery.  Contains essays by Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, James Fenimore Cooper, Susan Cooper, E.L Magoon, and Bayard Taylor, among others.

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James Fenimore Cooper's (1789-1851) work set a new style for description and appreciation of the American environment.  Per Huth:  "...to point out ways to enjoy nature was only a minor purpose in Cooper's writings.  What was far more important to him was the problem of balancing the household of nature.  Cooper, of course, had no such word as 'conservation'; yet in building up the story of The Pioneers [not in the Collection] he employs the idea that man should govern the resources of nature by certain principals in order to conserve them.  Chapter after chapter deals with man's waste of the treasures nature has provided for him."  (Huth, p. 34 of the 1990 Bison edition).

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William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) was the foremost of the American romantic poets as well as being a journalist and editor.  I briefly discuss the tremendous impact the romantic poets (i.e. Wordsworth, Coleridge, etc.) had on the evolution of public perception of nature elsewhere in this website.  In the U.S., Bryant was probably the most influential of them all (sorry, Longfellow fans), in part due to his long-time editorship of the New York Evening Post (a paper, incidentally, that had been founded by Alexander Hamilton).  Bryant, through his poetry and journalism, embraced America's abundant natural beauty.  He was one of the principal drivers of the creation of Central Park in NYC (and the Metropolitan Museum of Art).  His influence on Americans' view of their environment extended for the 50+ years of his adult lifetime, and beyond.  Bryant Park, behind the main branch of the NY Public Library (which I remember passing by as a youth in the 1970's - one did not go in) is again a jewel, and a fitting legacy to the man.

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Thomas Cole (1801-1848), Frederick Church (1826-1900), J.F. Cropsey (1823-1900), Asher Durand (1796-1886) and R.F. Gignoux (1814-82) were founders (in the case of Cole) and central figures in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters.  Cole was also particularly outspoken in his defense of the value and beauty of nature and wilderness, and the artists were (and remain) extremely popular.  Their works are frequently cited by environmental historians such as Roderick Nash and Hans Huth as having had a meaningful impact on their contemporaries' appreciation for nature and the environment.

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Magoon (1810-1886) was an American clergyman and author.  Taylor (1825-1878) was a highly accomplished American poet, literary critic, travel author and diplomat.

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Magoon's 47-page opening essay 'Scenery and Mind,' whilst at times somewhat prolix (most of the time if I am being honest), conveys a genuine love for the beauty of untrammeled nature.  "To our mind, this book on American Scenery has an import of the highest order.  The diversified landscapes of our country exert no slight influence in creating our character as individuals, and in confirming our destiny as a nation.  Oceans, mountains, rivers, cataracts, wild woods, fragrant prairies, and melodious winds, are elements and exemplifications of that general harmony which subsists throughout the universe, and which is most potent over the most valuable minds."  [p. 3]

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[Link to EC History section]

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Picturesque America; or the Land We Live In.  A Delineation by Pen and Pencil of the Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Forests, Waterfalls, Shores, Canons, Valleys, Cities, and other Picturesque Features of our Country with Illustrations on Steel and Wood by Eminent American Artists [Photos]

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BRYANT, William Cullen (1794-1878)  [Editor]

BUNCE, Oliver Bell (1828-1890) [Editor - Uncredited]

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1872-4.  Two volumes.  First edition.  First issued to subscribers in parts, subsequently bound by publisher D. Appleton & Co., New York

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Large and very heavy (both volumes 13x10.75" and over 10 lbs), Vol I - viii, 568 pages, Vol II - vi, 576 pages.  49 steel engraved plates including frontispiece and title page (24 in Vol I, 25 in Vol II).  Over 900 wood engraved illustrations in text.  (Of the engravings, Rainey (see below) identifies approximately 180 - "a surprisingly large number" (p xv) - as previously unpublished).  Original publisher's dark brown full morocco binding on both volumes with gilt lettering on front, spine five compartments in raised bands, elaborate tooling of covers and spine with black ink enhancement, gilt illustration on front of a painter's pallet and tools.  All page edges gilt, marbled end papers with gilt dentelle design along outer and inner edges, tissue guards to plates.  Minor shelf wear, scuffs, spotting and age toning in a few spots.  Overall VG to NF

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Per seller, from the library of Dr. G. Warren Smith (1941-2021) of Pennsylvania.  He had a long career as a university professor and administrator, and collected of over 6,000 books, maps, artifacts, etc., about the Arctic, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

 

In Rainey's Creating Picturesque America (see References), there is an appendix showing various publisher's notices to subscribers, including one which listed four binding options available to those wishing to have their individual parts bound into two volumes:  1)  Full Turkey Morocco Antique, Gilt ($10);  2) Full French Morocco Antique ($8);  3) Half Morocco, Extra Gilt ($6);  4) Half Morocco, Best ($7).  This set appears to sport the first option.

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Overall, in my opinion this work challenges the Audubon's Birds octavo edition as most beautiful work in the Collection, considering both covers and contents.

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Oliver Bell Bunce joined publisher Appleton in 1867 and was named assistant editor of the new weekly Appleton's Journal in 1869.  Picturesque America started life in November 1870 as a weekly feature in the Journal.  Bunce oversaw the entire project, from weekly magazine feature to book, choosing the writers, artists and subjects.  

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There are 65 illustrated chapters (34 in Vol I), of which editor Bunce wrote the most (12), followed by reporter R.E. Garczynski (8).  The chapters are each about a specific location, mostly natural but some urban, and as specific as "Watkins Glen" (a breath-taking three mile gorge in the Finger Lakes region of New York which I walk or run every time I am racing at the track there), and as general as "The Rocky Mountains.").  Four women contributed chapters, including four chapters by Constance Fenimore Woolson (1848-1894), a grandniece of James Fenimore Cooper, who would go on to become reasonably well known in her time as a regional novelist.  In general the text is somewhat formulaic - the chief attraction here was and is the art.  Of the text Rainey writes:  "...no amount of delving yields profundities...".  The art, however, is a different kettle of fish.

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Of the 65 chapters and 49 steel engravings, lead artist Harry Fenn (1837-1911) illustrated the most (25 chapters and 8 steel engravings), with John Doulas Woodward (1846-1924) next at 12 and 3, respectively.  (One chapter was co-illustrated by Fenn and Woodward, who were friends.  Each gets full credit in the count).  Granville Perkins (1830-1895) follows, with 8 and 3, respectively.  The only other name I recognize is Thomas Moran.  Fenn, Woodward and Perkins were successful landscape painters of their day whose work is still collected today.  Fenn was an immigrant from England, ironically.  Rainey calls credible the story that the whole project got its start when Fenn contradicted another English artist at an event at which George Appleton was present, saying:  "If they make it worth my while, we will show the young man if there is any thing picturesque in America." (p.31)

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Of the 49 steel engravings, Robert Hinshelwood (1812-1885) did the engraving for 23 and Samuel Valentine Hunt (1803-1893) did 11.​

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The initiation of the series came at a time of intense competition among weekly publications from large publishing companies (of which Appleton was second largest at the time).  Harpers, Scribners, The Aldine, Frank Leslie's and Every Saturday were all fighting for the same audience.  The series began in part to capitalize on Appleton's relatively superior ability to print high quality engravings.  However, by early 1872 that advantage had largely disappeared.  In April 1872, the decision was made to end the weekly magazine series and, instead, substantially expand the project into a subscription book, sold in parts.  Some of the material was a reprinting of the magazine series, but more was not.  June 1872 saw publication of the first part of "the most magnificent illustrated work ever produced in America."  Each volume consisted of 24 parts, issued one every two weeks, with payment of $0.50 each due upon each delivery.  Sales were made through agents, who collected payment.  This was a common method of publishing at the time - subscribers would compile the parts and have them bound, either by the publisher as described above, or by their own binder.

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William Cullen Bryant (see Home Book of the Picturesque), whose name is most closely associated with the work, was only brought in as editor in June 1872, largely based on his name, drawing power and authority regarding all things natural.  He edited copy and provided a new preface - the original publication of the very early parts published do not name Bryant and have a different preface, written by Bunce - Rainey describes these as quite rare today.  This copy does in fact have the preface by Bryant.  Bryant closes his preface:  "The letter-press [text] has passed under my revision, but to the zeal and diligence of Mr. Oliver B. Bunce, who has made the getting up of this work a labor of love, the credit of obtaining the descriptions from the different quarters is due.  To his well-instructed taste also the public will owe what constitutes the principal value of the work, the selection of the subjects, the employment of skillful artists, and the general arrangement of the contents."  To the earlier point about the formulaic nature of the text, Bryant described the process of editing same as amongst the most tedious tasks of his long career.

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Attached to Part 35 (i.e. almost halfway through publication of the second volume), the publisher attached a notice which began:  "To Subscribers.  As proof that the Publisher of "Picturesque America" have more than kept their promises in regard to the outlay upon this work, they beg to make the following statements:  The full cost of the steelplates, woodcuts, and articles was estimated in their first announcement at eighty thousand dollars;  subsequently...the figures were placed at one hundred thousand.  It is now quite certain the cost of the engravings and the literary work will reach all of a hundred and thirty thousand dollars.  This estimate has no reference to the cost of paper and printing....  These facts speak for themselves."  (Notice reproduced in Rainey, p. 316).

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Per Rainey, the original subscription brought in some $2.4 million (100,000 subscribers at $24 per).  The work remained available for many years to come, issued in various guises and editions, thus becoming an undeniable commercial and artistic success which spurred many imitations, some by Appleton (Europe, Holy Land, etc.) and some not. 

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1870 was an interesting time in America.  The Civil War (and Reconstruction, by and large) were over, and the first transcontinental railroad built.  Notably, many of the earliest magazine pieces in the series, which preceded and which were ultimately reordered for the book, were of Southern subjects - a conscious attempt at fostering a national reconciliation with an area which was not remotely in vogue at the time.  Per Rainey:  "To suggest that regions of the former Confederate states, which were still often viewed as backward and morally corrupt and where many cities had been badly damaged and rail lines destroyed, were now appropriate destinations for travellers and artists 'in search of the picturesque' signaled a return to normalcy.  It also promoted a cultural reunification based on appreciation of art and nature." (p. 50).

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Picturesque America was an undeniable cultural landmark and remained as such for over a quarter century.  It had no conservation angle per se, other than fostering and expanding public appreciation for nature generally.  In fact, as Rainey points out, it largely avoids confronting the then newly emerging issues around resource exploitation (in addition to other problems such as a systematically patronizing view of minority peoples, particularly Black people and recent immigrants).  "By the turn of the century, these problems were clearly so pressing that a work restricting its attention to aesthetics, to visual aspects and surfaces, was clearly too limited to warrant serious consideration."  (Rainey p. 291).  On the other hand, LIU's library describes the book as "considered to have had a lasting effect on both the growth of tourism and the historical preservation movement in the United States." (www.liucedarswampcollection.org/template1/picturesque.html).

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In its "Documentary Chronology of Selected Events in the Development of the American Conservation Movement, 1847-1920," the Library of Congress describes it as "a massive 2-volume work containing reports and descriptions of scenic places along with superb engravings based on the work of noted artists; the work circulate[d] widely, creating enduringly influential popular images of some of the nation's most famous scenic spots."  (memory.loc.gov/ammem/amrvhtml/cnchron2.html).

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In the final analysis, this was the pinnacle of American 19th century engraved landscape art books, playing an important role in helping Americans regain their national and artistic pride and sense of place, a necessary step in the road towards the conservation ethic which was to begin in the years and decades following publication.

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[Link to EC History section]

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Camp Life in Florida; A Handbook for Sportsmen and Settlers

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HALLOCK, Charles (1834-1917)  [Editor]

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1876.  First edition.  [The copyright date is 1875 but I believe it was first actually published in 1876].  Published by Forest and Stream Publishing Company.  Presentation copy inscribed "from the author."

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Green blind-stamped cloth boards, somewhat scuffed and marked, with crisp gilt lettering on spine.  Inscribed "Wm W. Walsh/Merry Christmas/Dec 25/78/ from the author."  On the next fe in the same hand is written "Dont Swar.  You wont ketch no fish."  Consists of a selection of pieces from Forest and Stream, some attributed, some not (one might assume Hallock penned at least some of these, but I can find no evidence either way).  Two small maps, including one folding of Lake Okeechobee, at page 248.  VG

 

Hallock was founder and publisher of Forest and Stream from 1873-80.  Notably, George Bird Grinnell was editor of the magazine from 1876 until 1911, so he was presumably hired by, and worked for, Hallock.  (The mag was merged into its main competitor, Field and Stream in 1930).  Per Brinkley's Wilderness Warrior Hallock "was a hero to both Roosevelt and Grinnell and…[this book] had a huge impact on Roosevelt's eco-sensibility." (p. 360).  Hallock originated the code of uniform game laws and co-founded the first great American game preserve, at Blooming Grove, PA.  The first state law regulating hunting of birds for commerce, signed by Roosevelt as NYS governor, was called the Hallock Bird Protection Bill.

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Transactions of the Linnaean Society of New York (Vols I and II)

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MERRIAM, C. (Clinton) Hart (1855-1942)  

[Also DUTCHER, William (1846-1920)]

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1882/1884.  Two volumes bound into one.  Published by the Linnaean Society.

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Two​ volumes bound into one.  Large octavo or small quarto.  High quality red buckram binding, spine labeled 'Vertebrates of the Adirondack Region N.Y.'  Unmarked.  Vol I is dated 1882 and contains one essay each by Merriam (Vertebrates of the Adirondack Region - Introduction), Willam Dutcher (on Fish Crows) and Society President Eugene Bicknell (on Catskill summer birds).  Vol II is dated 1884 and has two essays by Merriam (Vertebrates of the Adirondack Region - Conclusion, and an essay on a new genus and species of shrew).  VG+ to NF.

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For more on Merriam see his stand-alone works in the Author Catalog [CREATE LINK] and the EC History chapter on the Progressive Era.  [CREATE LINK].  Dutcher was an important amateur ornithologist and founding member of the American Ornithologists' Union.  Described by Brinkley in Wilderness Warrior as:  "Undoubtedly the most tireless member of the AOU's Protection of North American Birds Committee...."  Among all of the bird's rights activists of the time "none were as politically effective at reducing market hunting...he was impossible to silence."  Dutcher and Theodore Roosevelt had a lasting friendship around birds, and Dutcher was hugely influential in TR's formation of the first Federal Bird Reserve, at Pelican Island.  Dutcher was also influential in the passing of the 1900 Lacey Act, the first federal legislation protecting game.  See the Lacey memorial volume (1915) in conventional books section.

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Regarding the current volume, this was the initial publication of the two "Vertebrate" essays, which were combined and published as a complete book later in 1884 entitled "Mammals of the Adirondacks."  In the National Academy of Sciences' Biographical Memoir of Merriam by Wilfred Osgood, "Mammals" is described as "a large comprehensive book almost exhaustive in character and setting a new standard for local studies.  For its time it was quite unusual.... It was a remarkable piece of work...an ambitious undertaking, planned on a comprehensive scale, and the forerunner of much that came later."

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Essays from The Critic

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BURROUGHS/WHITMAN Et al

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1892 - First edition.  Published by James R. Osgood and Co., Boston

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Octavo.  Essays by Burroughs (3), Walt Whitman (2), an unattributed review of Leaves of Grass (even-handed, and almost certainly not by Burroughs, to my reading), and others.  The JB essays are entitled "Thoreau's Wildness", "Emerson and the Superlative", and "Nature in Literature".  Dark green boards with gilt letting.  Spine a bit sunfaded.  A bit of minor damp staining around edges of first few pages, not impacting legibility.  Unmarked.  VG-.

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Trail and Camp Fire: The Book of the Boone & Crockett Club

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GRINNELL, George Bird and ROOSEVELT, Theodore [Editors]

Contributions from the Editors along with Madison Grant, Henry Stimson and others.

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1897 - First edition.  Published by Forest and Stream Publishing, New York

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Maroon boards with crisp, silver gilt lettering and attractive embossed designs to cover and spine.  Some separation of text block from spine at p. 76.  Unmarked and unfoxed.  Illustrated with full-page photos.  At page 344, in the middle of the Club's constitution, is inserted a slip entitled "Further Revisions" noting that wolves were struck from the Club's constitution as valid prey for hunters subsequent to printing.  Sound, attractive book.  VG

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This was the third book published by B&C.  Two of the articles are directly on conservation, including one on Adirondack deer laws and a second on the history of the formation of the New York Zoological Society (Bronx Zoo), the latter by Madison Grant.  In addition to the articles, the rear of the book has a list of all of the B&C Club members in 1897, of which there were about 100 (which was the constitutional upper limit), along with 25 or so associate members.  It was an upper-crust group of white men.  Some names in the register include Bierstadt, Furness, Clarence King, C. Hart Merriam and deceased honorary member Francis Parkman.

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Harriman Alaska Expedition

 

MERRIAM, C. HART (Editor)

[Contributions from Burroughs, Muir, Grinnell, Merriam and Fernow, among others]

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Harriman Alaska Expedition:  Narrative, Glaciers, Natives [Vol I - 1901]

Harriman Alaska Expedition:  History, Geography, Resources [Vol II - 1901]

Harriman Alaska Expedition:  Glaciers and Glaciation [Vol III - 1904]

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Published by Doubleday, Page & Co., New York

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Green cloth boards with pristine gilt lettering and stamped design of walrus on cover.  Vols I and II have separate green cloth covers over the boards.  Rough cut text block edges.  Tissue-guarded frontispieces in all three volumes.  All unmarked, unfoxed, pristine.  NF to F.

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The Harriman Expedition to Alaska was an extraordinary enterprise - essentially conceived as a family vacation, Edward Harriman recruited an elite group of scientists, naturalists, artists and photographers to travel with them aboard a custom-fitted boat and undertake substantial exploration and investigation into the Alaskan environment over the course of the two-month trip.  Harriman enlisted C. Hart Merriam to recruit the team, which included, among many others, John Burroughs, John Muir, William Dall (of the eponymous sheep), William Brewer, Charles Keeler, Robert Ridgeway, Bernhard Fernow, George Bird Grinnell, Grove Karl Gilbert, photographer Edward Curtis, and ornithological artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes.

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The trip started and ended in Seattle and went as far as Siberia.  Harriman funded publication of ultimately 12 volumes on the trip (including some published after Harriman's death in 1909 - his wife provided additional money to continue the series.)  The series was edited by Merriam, who spent 12 years on the project.  Interestingly, he was supposed to write volumes VI and VII on mammals but they were never published - he was a busy man (see his Catalogue entry (1877)).  The first two volumes are of the most general interest - Vol V is on Cryptogamic Botany for instance, and the next two published volumes are on insects.

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Per the Wikipedia entry on Harriman (retrieved Feb 2024):

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In many ways, the expedition was an intersection of 19th century science and 20th century science.  It often represented the best of the new century's science, but it also showed how scientists thought in the previous century.

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They foreshadowed practices of 20th century science by being an interdisciplinary team.  The wealth of disciplines represented on the voyage enabled them to work together to solve many pieces of the puzzle.  They also discussed the potential loss of the wilderness and the indigenous peoples.  They saw the remnants of the Yukon gold rush, and how self-serving treasure hunters were plundering the countryside and the dignity and viability of the indigenous cultures. 

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In many ways they were firmly rooted in 19th century science.  In the 19th century, the common way to write scientific articles was to create endlessly long descriptions of the physical characteristics.... Most of the publications from the expedition followed this protocol....

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Another example of 19th century thinking was their perspective on indigenous cultures.  Their ethnocentric view regarded the indigenous people as savages.  While the scientists remarked in horror that the indigenous cultures were disappearing, they simultaneously felt that adopting modern European-style technology, dress and customs would be a helpful step for them.

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The intersection of 19th and 20th century science was evident among different opinions of those on the expedition.

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Burroughs wrote two-thirds of Vol I, being the general narrative, with Muir and Grinnell writing the other two chapters.  Vol II has contributions from eight writers, including Grinnell, Merriam, Dall, Fernow, and others.

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See John Muir's memorial volume regarding Harriman in the Muir Catalogue section.

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In 1910 the Smithsonian republished the entire series.

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[Link to EC History section]

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In Praise of Walking

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BURROUGHS/THOREAU/WHITMAN Et Al

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1905 - First edition presumed.  Published by Arthur C. Fifield, The Simple Life Press, Fleet St., London

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A small pocket volume, 89 pages plus publisher's catalogue in paper wrappers with four essays, one each by Burroughs, Thoreau, Whitman, and Hazlitt.  No. 20 of the Simple Life Series.  Similar in conception to Joys of the Road below.  Per bookseller Ken Lopez:  "A nice copy of a fragile book.  OCLC lists 15 copies, of which 5 are outside the U.S."  Unmarked in VG+ condition.

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The Passenger Pigeon

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MERSHON, W.B. [William Butts] (1856-1943), Editor

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1907 - First edition.  Published by The Outing Publishing Company

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A series of essays drawn from various sources, including Audubon's Ornithological Biographies, Burroughs, Alexander Wilson, Robert Ridgeway, William Brewster and Chief Pokagon (see below).  First essay and last chapter, Miscellaneous Notes, by Mershon​.  In the latter, he references Josselyn's Two Voyages as the first reference he could find to the passenger pigeon.  Color plate frontispiece by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, and additional color plate reproduced from Audubon's Birds.  Red cloth boards with crisp gilt lettering.  Page edges rough cut.  In original dust jacket with extensive tape repairs and reinforcement at edges, along with two chips at fore edge of front cover.  Cards from Doyle's Auctioneers laid in from Dec 2019 sale (lot 100).  

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The piece by Chief Pokagon is from "The Chautauquan," Nov 1895, Vol 22, No 20.  Mershon drops a footnote reading in its entirety:

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Simon Pokagon, of Michigan, is a full-blooded Indian, the last Pottawatomie chief of the Pokagon band.  He is author of the "Red Man's Greeting," and has been called by the press the "Redskin poet, bard, and Longfellow of his race."  His father, chief before him, sold the site of Chicago and the surrounding country to the United States in 1833 for three cents an acre.  He was the first red man to visit President Lincoln after his inauguration.  In a letter written home at the time he said:  "I have met Lincoln, the great chief; he is very tall, has a sad face, but he is a good man, I saw it in his eyes and felt it in his hand-shaking.  He will help us get payment for Chicago land."  Soon after $39,000 was paid.  In 1874 he visited President Grant.  He said of him:  "I expected he would put on military importance, but he treated me kindly, give (sic) me a cigar, and we smoked the pipe of peace together."  In 1893 he procured judgement against the United States for over $100,000 still due on the sale of Chicago land by his father.  He was honored on Chicago Day at the World's Fair by first ringing the new Bell of Liberty and speaking in behalf of his race to the greatest crowd ever assembled on earth.  After his speech "Glory Hallelujah" was sung before the bell for the first time on the Fair grounds.

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Mershon was a businessperson and mayor of Saginaw, MI for a time, who for two years was a state forester.  He was an amateur ornithologist (a life member of the AOU).  The book was published seven years after the last wild passenger pigeon was killed (there were still living birds in captivity in 1907).

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In American Fields & Forest

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BURROUGHS/THOREAU/MUIR/TORREY/SHARP/MILLER

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1909 - First edition.  Published by Houghton, Mifflin and Co., Boston and New York.  

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Selections from Burroughs (4), Thoreau (4), Muir (2), Bradford Torrey (2), Dallas Lore Sharp (3) and Olive Thorne Miller (Harriet Mann Miller) (2).  All from previously published works.  Primitive dj of printed paper with some chips, especially upper spine impinging on title.  Green boards with full cover decoration and silver gilt lettering.  Some offsetting by dj flaps to free endpapers.  Otherwise unmarked.  VG++ in VG DJ

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Joys of the Road:  A Little Anthology in Praise of Walking

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BURROUGHS/THOREAU/WHITMAN Et al

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1911 - First edition.  Published by Brown's Bookstore, Chicago.

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Duodecimo.  A small pocket volume with selections from Burroughs, Thoreau, Whitman, etc.  Compiled by W.R.B., presumably the Brown of the publisher.  Similar in concept to In Praise of Walking above.  Pale green cloth boards, gilt lettering.  Unmarked.  G+ to VG

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The First Exposition of Conservation and its Builders: 

An Official History of the National Conservation Exposition, held in Knoxville, Tenn., in 1913:  and of its Forerunners, the Appalachian Expositions of 1910-11:  Embracing a Review of the Conservation Movement in the United States from its Inception to the Present Time 

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GOODMAN, W.M. (Editor)

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1914.  First edition

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Bound in full black leather, spine, edges and corners worn and chipped, two-inch tear along rear spine edge, foxing to end papers, starting to separate from rear hinge, gilt seal on cover and print on spine crisp.  Text block is high quality heavy semi-coated paper, unmarked.  Illustrated with black and white photos throughout.  Intro by Gifford Pinchot.  VG

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The Exposition was an early example of a private-public partnership, managed by a corporation funded by individuals but also using municipal, county and federal support (the Tennessee legislature approved funding, but the state comptroller successfully sued to block it as unconstitutional).  It ran from Sept 1-Nov 1, 1913, and saw over one million visitors, including Booker T. Washington, Helen Keller, William Jennings Bryan and Gifford Pinchot.  The Exposition was a national event, although much of the content was regionally focused, on the South generally and Appalachia in particular.  The content was mostly geared toward entertainment but also had conservation exhibits on such topics as peak coal, topsoil erosion, modern farming techniques, sustainable forestry, and the value of wildlife.

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The book itself consists of a series of solid essays discussing the philosophy and history of the conservation movement, along with more specific info about the Exposition itself.  Expositions were a popular attraction in the second half of the 19th century into the 20th - they sought to entertain but also educate the mass public, often on the progress of technology.  To quote from this book:  "The National Conservation Exposition - the first of its kind in the world - the first to look forward instead of backward - was the largest ever held in the South.  It will go down in history, because there can be no permanent progress in any line of industry...except along the lines which it laid out.  It was the first practical demonstration ever made to show the need of conservation, for improving conditions in forests, fields, mines, factories, schools and homes - if our natural resources are to be made perpetual sources of wealth and the highest standards in human efficiency attained.  And these lessons were taught in a practical way - in a way to reach the masses...."  [p. 43].

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It should be noted that the Exposition occurred just after the beginning of WWI.  While the U.S. did not formally enter the war until 1917, there is no question the war shifted the nation's focus and priorities from conservation to production and geopolitics.  One has to believe this Exposition represented something of a culmination or climax to the Conservation movement as that word was used and understood at the time.​

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Hunting and Conservation: The Book of the Boone & Crockett Club

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GRINNELL, George Bird and SHELDON, Charles [Editor]

Contributions from Grinnell, Madison Grant, Charles Sheldon and others.

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1925 - First edition.  Published by Yale University Press, New Haven

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Maroon boards with crisp, silver gilt lettering and attractive embossed designs to cover but mostly worn off on spine.  Unmarked and unfoxed.  VG in a VG+ NPCDJ ($5.00).

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This is the sixth book published by B&C.  Most of the 14 articles are directly on conservation, including three each by Grinnell and Madison Grant, with another by Sheldon and one by John C. Phillips.  As was the case in the 1897 B&C book above, an appendix contains the names of the club members but also, somewhat remarkably, also includes addresses.  And while some are workplaces, others are clearly home addresses.  It was a different time.

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Waste and Conservation of America's Resources [Textbook]

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RUGG, Harold;  RUGG, Earl;  SCHWEPPE, Emma 

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Volume III, Pamphlet 3 of The Social Studies Pamphlets: Geography-History-Civics.  This appears to from the second edition of the pamphlets.  No copyright page but with a 1/5/1925 stamp on inside cover.  Described as an "experimental edition" published by the authors, who were from the Lincoln School of Teachers College, "for co-operative experimentation in schools with which arrangements are made.  It is not for general commercial distribution."  From the Ninth Grade series - there was a seventh and eighth grade series as well.  Described as a "pamphlet" but really a 202-page hardcover book, printed in a small font, with lesson plans and discussion pages.  It is not an anthology, incidentally, but I had no better place in which to Catalogue it. 

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The book has the stamp of Skinner Junior High School of the Denver public school system, per the aforementioned dated stamp and stickers denoting student use.  Of the latter there are two, one for Richard Sawyer dated in 1926 and the other for Sadie M. Thomas, undated.  Both used the book in Room 105.     
 

The book itself is fascinating.  First, it is quite dense (and overly prolix) for a ninth-grade audience, by today's standards.  As the title suggests, it is particularly focused on the waste generated in the exploitation of various natural resources including coal, oil, timber, water and soil.  The last three chapters focus on human capital, including the inefficiencies of the job market, the propensity for workers to be in jobs unsuited to their abilities, and finally on employer-worker relations.  VG+ no DJ

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The Pacific World: Its vast distances, its lands and the life upon them, and its peoples [Photos]

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OSBORN, Fairfield  [Editor]

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1944.  Stated first.  Published by W.W. Norton for The American Committee for International Wildlife Protection (ACIWP).  Inscribed by Osborn to Carl von Hoffman, explorer and pioneering documentary filmmaker, who contributed to the book.

An unusual book in that it was published during WWII by the ACIWP, with the information in the book also published in supplementary handbooks for the benefit of armed service members in hopes that "literature regarding the wildlife of the Pacific islands would encourage its conservation."  The book was the idea of Childs Frick and Harold Coolidge of the ACIWP, per a page of acknowledgements by Osborn.  [See also Osborn's The Limits of the Earth (1953), which is personally inscribed to Frick].  The book contains a four-page Intro by William Beebe, who also contributed to the book.  The opening paragraph of his Intro reads: "Well, you're in the Pacific!  And now that the Jap has been cleared out, what do you think of the island you're on?  Oh, you don't know much about it!  Don't worry, for this goes for almost every other American."  Illustrated by Francis Lee Jacques and others.  Chapters on geography, wildlife, peoples, climate generally and individual islands specifically.

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The information in the book was compiled from various sources including several individuals including von Hoffman.  In addition to those individuals, the book was the work of 28 men (and no women) from nine educational and scientific organizations, being the American Geographical Society, the AMNH, Arnold Arboretum, Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, Carnegie Museum, Chicago Natural History Museum, Museum of Comparative Zoology, NY Zoological Society, and the Smithsonian.  Notable contributors included Ernest Mayr and Robert Cushman Murphy.  There is a nice blog piece about the publication of the book on the Wildlife Conservation Society website at [ www.wcsarchivesblog.org/a-pacific-world/ ]. 

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Carl von Hoffman (1889-1982) was a soldier, explorer, photographer and pioneering documentary filmmaker who was born in Russia or Latvia - his father was a botanist and forester for the Czar.  Von Hoffman left a military academy at around 15 and volunteered for the Russo-Japanese War, where he was highly decorated.  He later served in the Russian Army during WWI and on the Russian side in the Russian Civil War.  Around 1907 he made his way to NYC where he was hired as a photographer's apprentice, then became a full-time photographer for the New York Globe newspaper in 1910.  He went on assignment to Timbuktu to photograph a missionary group providing aid due to an epidemic of bubonic plague there.  He later went on to work for several film companies, accompanying Theodore Roosevelt on a portion of his Brazilian expedition down the River of Doubt.  In 1924, he was recruited as a professional explorer to accompany four businessmen on an 11-month walk from Cairo to Cape Town.  He filmed Pancho Villa for D.W. Griffith (von Hoffman's said that his ability to teach Villa about machine guns was his entree).  Later, while working for Universal, he was sent to the Pacific to film fleet maneuvers.  He snuck into Formosa - his contribution to this book was an article about the island.  Von Hoffman was an active member of the Explorers Club and most of the Wikipedia entry about him, from which this summary is derived, is culled from an oral history he recorded for the club - there is apparently little supporting documentation beyond photos and film, and not much else written about him on the internet.  He was also president of the Adventurers Club of New York for a time.  Interesting cat!

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The Conservation of Northwest Resources

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THOMPSON, Margaret and FREEMAN, Otis W.  [Eds. and contributors] 

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1950.  First.  Published by the Northwest Conservation League.  Inscribed by Thompson.

An obscure and somewhat unusual book edited by two folks about whom I found no meaningful information outside the descriptions on the jacket.  Inscribed on ffe:  "For Ruth and Edmund Anderson, with all good wishes/Margaret Thompson/December 1951."  The book consists of ten essays, each of which "is the result of years of careful research on the part of its author" according to the DJ description.  The authors I am guessing are all Northwest Conservation League members - several educators in public schools or colleges, some retired.  All of the authors donated their work gratis for the benefit of the NCL.  Dr. Otis Freeman was a department head of Geology and Geography at Eastern Washington College of Education.  Margaret Thompson was a public-school educator.

 

Per the seller:  “An early conservation book with a focus on the Pacific Northwest that captures the novel shift in mid-century America from a focus solely on conservation for resources to another conservation for ecology/aesthetics.  Chapters by various authors including:  "Social Engineering for the Atomic Age," Margaret Thompson; "Earth Features of the Pacific Northwest," Otis W. Freeman; "Northwest Minerals and their Future," Willis B. Merriam and Otis W. Freeman; "Saving Soil and Water," J. Wright Baylor; "Sustained Yield for Grassland," Jessie L Duboc; "Keeping Our Forests Green," Frank Jones Clark; "Our Wealth of 'White Coal'," John L. King and Joe Miller; "Conservational Fish and Wildlife Management," David A. Staeger; "Conserving Our Landscape Beauty," Margaret Thompson; and "Resources in the Realm of Art," Louis Cain....Totally atmospheric, and a snapshot of a pivotal time, when high school teachers (some of the contributors) were on the forefront of a movement and new vision of the natural world.”

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The Northwest Conservation League does not appear to be in existence today.  A "Conservation Northwest" non-profit was started some 30+ years ago.

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This is Dinosaur: Echo Park Country and its Magic Rivers

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STEGNER, Wallace (1909-1993) [Editor]

Contributions from Stegner, Eliot Blackwelder, Olaus Murie and Joseph W. Penfold, Robert Lister, Otis "Dock" Marston, David Bradley and Alfred A. Knopf himself.

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1955 - Stated first edition.  Published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York.  Signed by Stegner below his introduction.  Related materials laid in.

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Blue boards with intricate design.  Brown spine.  Laid in are two copies of a folded eight panel poster/brochure entitled "What is Your Stake in Dinosaur" comparing the project with Hetch-Hetchy, along with a clipping about the withdrawal of the dam proposal and an order card for the book from the David Magee Bookshop from San Francisco.  The book opens with a 36-page section of photos illustrating the beauty of the area by Philip Hyde.  The front and rear endpapers show a two-page map of the area "specially prepared by Marion & Don Greame Kelley for the book."  A "handsome" [per Brooks] and important book which was republished on its thirty-year anniversary.  NF in a G PCDJ.  One brochure is NF/F and the other is VG/NF.

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In 1949, the Interior Department announced the massive multi-billion Upper Colorado Storage Project (UCSP), including a network of dams, power plants and irrigation installations, including construction of a massive dam in the Echo Park area of Dinosaur National Monument on the Colorado-Utah border.  In the July 22, 1950 issue of The Saturday Evening Post [contained elsewhere in the Collection], Bernard DeVoto published his classic essay "Shall We Let Them Ruin Our National Parks."  The project was temporarily shelved in 1952 following further opposition from, among others, General Ulysses S. Grant III, a retired officer of the Army Corps of Engineers.  The project was reapproved by the next administration under Eisenhower, igniting a fight that Brooks describes as "one of the key battles in the annals of modern conservation" [p. 249]. 

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A national coalition of conservation organizations, spearheaded by David Brower and the Sierra Club, along with The Wilderness Society, National Parks Association and the Audubon Society, formed to oppose the project.  According to Mark Harvey's article on the controversy on the coloradoencylopedia.org website, Brower enlisted Stegner to compile and edit the book This is Dinosaur, which was published by Knopf (himself an ardent conservationist and member of the National Parks Advisory Board) "just as the controversy peaked."  In November 1955, sadly shortly after DeVoto's death, the dam was withdrawn from the UCSP.  According to some accounts, Stegner compiled the book in just two months.

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The laid-in brochure, entitled "What is Your Stake in Dinosaur?" is an advocacy piece in its own right, as well as a promotional piece for the book.  "In Yosemite we learned a costly lesson long ago - a lesson it is imperative to heed now in Dinosaur National Monument.  We don't have to choose between sound development and beautiful parks - wise planning will give us both.  A Brief Story, Illustrated, Unfolds Here."  It closes:  "Help Prevent a Misplaced Dam in Dinosaur.  America's conservation forces are sincerely interested in wise development of the water resources of the Upper Colorado River Basin; they know that wise development will not impair our enviable, irreplaceable national park and wilderness system.  A Beautiful Book about a Beautiful Park.  To appreciate fully the grandeur of one of our finest national parks, we urge you and your friends to read THIS IS DINOSAUR edited by Wallace Stegner."

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Harvey writes: "The controversy over Echo Park dam provided a milestone in US environmental history, revealing the gathering strength of the wilderness movement in the postwar era."  He also notes:  "In their [conservationalists'] minds, rejection of the project by Congress demonstrated Americans' growing devotion to maintain the sanctity of parks and wild areas throughout the United States.  Soon after the controversy ended, Howard Zahniser and The Wilderness Society launched a campaign to establish a national wilderness preservation system, capitalizing on the confidence and muscle of the coalition that blocked the Echo Park dam."  [www.coloradoencylopedia.org/article/echo-park-dam-controversy].  The campaign to save Dinosaur has been characterized as helping to launch the modern environmental movement.

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A postscript - the UCSP did result in the construction of the damming of Glen Canyon to create Lake Powell.  Per the Wikipedia entry on the Echo Park Dam, "the Sierra Club, focused on the fight to keep water development out of established parks, failed to realize until it was too late that Glen Canyon possessed scenic and wilderness value even greater than Dinosaur....Brower's assent to a suggestion that the proposed Glen Canyon Dam be raised led Brower's critics to argue that he effectively sacrificed Glen Canyon to save Dinosaur.  Brower considered the trade to be his biggest mistake."  Edward Abbey's great classic Desert Solitaire describes the canyon before the dam was constructed, as does Eliot Porter's photo book about the Canyon [both of which are in the Collection].

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Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth [Photos]

 

THOMAS, Jr., William L. (Editor)

Contributors include Luna Leopold, Paul Sears and Fairfield Osborn,

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1956.  First edition.  Published by The U of Chicago Press for the Wenner-Glen Foundation for Anthropological Research and the National Science Foundation.  Ownership signature and stamp of scientist Evan C. Evans III.  F in a NF PCDJ.

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A massive compendium (weighs over five lbs, with 1,192 pages) consisting of 62 papers and ancillary info from the landmark 1956 International Symposium of the same name.  The volume is dedicated to George Perkins Marsh.

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Per the website of the Wenner-Glen Foundation’s website, ‘Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth’ was an interdisciplinary symposium was held in Princeton, New Jersey in 1955.  It brought together 70 scholars from across the world with specializations ranging “from anthropology to zoology” who were selected “for their common interest and curiosity about what man has been doing to and with his habitat.”  Participants included Carl O. Sauer, Marston Bates and Lewis Mumford, who along with Thomas Jr. were the organizers of the symposium, along with Fairfield Osborn, Paul Sears and Luna Leopold.  (Per the paper cited below, the conference was Sauer’s and Thomas’ idea).  The list of 70 participants includes nobody with an identifiably female name, although there are a dozen or so identified with first initials or who sport names unusual enough that I cannot be certain as to the gender.

 

From a 1987 academic paper entitled “Sauer and ‘Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth’” by Michael Williams:

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Thinking on a global scale in an integrative fashion about mankind's effects of his occupance [sic] on the earth is commonplace and second nature in the 1980s.  But it was not always so.  The shift from a local to a global viewpoint through the intermediate regional and continental scales has been slow and halting.  One of the first and most influential examples of a holistic, integrative interpretation of the past, present, and future was "Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth," a collection of essays published thirty-one years ago.'  The volume validated the interdisciplinary approach, heightened the environmental consciousness of the English-speaking world, and exerted an unprecedented influence on the development of a unified approach to environmental issues. Since 1956, more than 10,000 copies of this seminal volume have been sold, a fact that attests to its continued influence and freshness as "one of the most impressive contributions to the man/nature theme produced in the United States.”

 

“A pioneering publication in the field of environmental research, the work has steadily contributed to ecological studies, and is now considered a classic” per Amazon’s description. 

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Luna Leopold (1915-2006) was a son of Aldo Leopold and a leading geomorphologist and hydrologist who argued for improved water management practices.

 

Sauer (1889-1975) was a highly influential geographer who’s work had a strong environmentalist influence and impact.  

 

Provenance:  Evan C. Evans III (1922-2018) was a physicist who, according to his obituary from the Marin Independent Journal, did research while at the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory which led to the ban of aboveground nuclear testing.  He also did research on echolocation and other animal behaviors and created a relational database for use in environmental preservation and research.  He was an avid outdoorsman - a lover and defender of nature.

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Tomorrow's Wilderness

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LEYDET, Francois [Editor]

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Twenty-six multidisciplinary contributors including Ansel Adams, Paul Brooks, David Brower, Fairfield Osborn, Wallace Stegner, Stewart Udall and Howard Zahniser

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1963 - First edition.  Published by Sierra Club, San Francisco. 

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Two-tone green boards.  Preface by publisher David Brower.  Forward by Howard Zahniser, then Executive Director of The Wilderness Society.  The book was published to advocate for the passage of legislation protecting US wilderness.  The Wilderness Act, which was written by Zahniser, was passed the following year.  Notable contributors in addition to those listed above include Carl Buchheister and Lee Metcalf.  With a multi-page frontispiece consisting of twelve pages of black and white photos with expanded captions by Brower.  Unmarked and unfoxed.  VG in a G+ NPCDJ.

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Wildlands in Our Civilization

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BROWER, David [Editor]

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Anthology of contributions to the first five biennial wilderness conferences sponsored by the Sierra Club, from 1949-57.  Contributors include David Brower (two essays, plus nine-page Foreword), Wallace Stegner, A. Starker Leopold and Howard Zahniser.

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1964 - First edition.  Published by Sierra Club, San Francisco.  Inscribed by Brower.

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Not to be confused with the 1957 Sierra Club Bulletin with the same title, which was the theme of the fifth of the conferences and which summarizes same.  Inscribed:  "To Greg, David R. Brower 11/94."  In addition to those listed above, contributors included John Collier (Former Commissioner for Indian Affairs), Bruce M. Kilgore (Former managing editor, Sierra Club), Lowell Sumner (Biologist, NPS) and Lee Merriman Talbot (Graduate Student).  Nine essays total.  Extensive glossy black-and-white photos, including by Philip Hyde.  Nine-page Foreword by Brower concludes with paragraph noting the recent passage of the Wilderness Act, and the unexpected death of Zahniser, to whom he dedicates the book.  The last 46 pages consist of summaries of the proceedings of the five conferences, in small print.  Red paper boards printed with black with a red buckram spine.  F in a VG PCDJ.

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Wilderness: The Edge of Knowledge

 

McCLOSKEY, Maxine [Editor]

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Some 37 writings from the Eleventh Bienneal Wilderness Conference of 1969, including from David Brower, Paul Ehrlich, Roderick Nash, Margaret Murie and Michael McCloskey.

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1970 - First edition.  Published by Sierra Club, San Francisco.  ALS from editor McCloskey to contributor Urban C. Nelson stapled in, with Nelson's ownership sig.

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Maxine McCloskey was an active and dedicated whale and ocean conservationist and long-time Sierra Club volunteer who was instrumental in the formation of Project Jonah and the Whale Center in Oakland, CA.  She was the wife and conservationist partner of former Sierra Club head Michael McCloskey.  NF in a NF NPCDJ.

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HARTE, John (1939) and SOCOLOW, Robert H. (1937)

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Patient Earth

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1971 - First printing.  Published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston.  Inscribed by Socolow with a separate ALS by him.

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An early environmental survey and rallying cry by experts.  The book consists of thirteen case studies by different activist/authors, including one on the Everglades by Harte and Socolow.  Case studies include the dust bowl by Paul Sears and an essay on wilderness vs. mass recreation in the Sierra co-authored by Michael McCloskey.  There is also one on abortion, interestingly.  The inscription, dated 1/25/80, reads "Jenny [or Jerry], A vous [or nous] la victoire.  Affectionately and respectfully, Rob."  Laid in is a separate one-page handwritten and signed note from Socolow to the same person on Princeton Univ. Center for Energy and Environmental Studies letterhead praising a grant(?) proposal submitted to the Mellon Foundation and offering to make a phone call at the appropriate time.  The last line reads:  "You're an incredible soldier -- and I have a lot to learn from you."    NF in a VG+ NPCDJ.

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Harte and Socolow are physicists who worked at CERN in Switzerland and also participated in a study to save the Everglades.  At the time of publication Harte was a professor at Yale and Socolow at Princeton.  Harte is described on UC Berkeley's website as a professor emeritus and a "physicist turned ecologist."  His work focuses on impacts of climate change.  Socolow is professor emeritus at Princeton, where he was co-principal investigator for the school's Carbon Mitigation Initiative for 19 years, among other things.  He served for a time on the National Audubon Society's board.

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Who's Poisoning America

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NADER, Ralph (1934);  BROWNSTEIN, Ronald;  RICHARD, John [Editors]

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1981 - First printing.  Published by Sierra Club Books, San Francisco.  Signed by Nader

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Nine chapters, each written by a different author, of which the first was by Brownstein and the last by Nader.  Signed on title page by Nader.  Yellow and black cloth boards.  VG+ in VG NPCDJ.

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Nader is a famous/notorious consumer advocate and environmentalist who started the advocacy groups Public Interest Research Group and Public Citizen, among others.  Nader, despite good work earlier in his career, was arguably single-handedly responsible for George W. Bush's victory over avowed environmentalist Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election, having run as a third-party candidate (Green Party) and taken 2.9 million votes (including 97,421 votes in Florida, which Bush won by 537 votes, thus winning the election).  "Nader often openly expressed his hope for a Bush victory over Gore, saying it 'would mobilize us,' and the environmental and consumer regulatory agencies would fare better under Bush than Gore."  [Wikipedia entry on Nader].  Nader apparently thought the Democratic Party needed a wake-up call.  Thus, in addition to the terrible environmental depredations of the Bush Administration, Nader arguably is indirectly responsible for the more unfortunate and ineffectual aspects of the federal response to 9/11 and Katrina.  Mercifully he immediately sank without a trace and has not been heard from publicly for the two plus decades since.  Certainly, thinking people pay him no heed and, insofar as the morons at Fox News (pardon the redundancy) are unlikely to elevate him, non-thinking people are unlikely to either.  But he was quite influential, sometimes even responsibly so, in a prior century (my wife volunteered for NYPIRG in college) and is thus reluctantly included herein.​​​​​​​​​​​​