Mort Sahl

 Factlet (8)

  I just realized that I have not presented a Factlet this year. Here is one: Mort Sahl was born in Montreal. He just died in Mill Valley, California.  I did not know that he was Canadian-born and I did not know that he was still alive.  Perhaps you did not know about him at all and were surprised to see that he is on the cover of Time magazine on Aug.15, 1960. He was a rather caustic comedian who often appeared on college campuses. I doubt that now he would be allowed. 

   The Wikipedia entry for him is a good one and has already been updated. I have not seen a Canadian obituary yet, but here are some that will reveal more about the man.

From Variety - "Mort Sahl, Standup Comic With Biting Wit, Dies at 94," By Rick Schultz Oct.26,2021
“The three great geniuses of the period were Nichols and May, Jonathan Winters and Mort Sahl,” Woody Allen told New York magazine in 2008. Allen credited Sahl’s intellectual brand of humor for getting him into comedy. “He was the best thing I ever saw,” Allen said in another interview. “He totally restructured comedy. He changed the rhythm of the jokes.”

From The Guardian - ‘Funniest of them all’: Tributes Paid to Mort Sahl After Death Aged 94: Canadian-born Comedian Who Rose to Fame in the 1950s Credited with ‘yanking comedy into the modern age’ Oct. 27.
Robert B Weide, the executive producer of acclaimed comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm who filmed a documentary about Sahl said in tribute: “#MortSahl (1927-2021) was not only the most influential standup comic in the history of the medium, he remained, pound-for-pound, the funniest, most innovative comedian of them all, throughout his entire career.

From the BBC - "Mort Sahl: Legendary comedian and Satirist dies at Age 94,"
He was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1960, starred in several films and was a frequent guest host on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show on NBC. He continued to perform stand up into his 80s, even after suffering a stroke. At age 80 he began teaching a course in critical thinking at Claremont McKenna College in California.

From: NPR - Elizabeth Blair, Oct.26
Long before Jon Stewart or Bill Maher, there was Mort Sahl. In the 1950s, while most comedians were telling jokes about in-laws, Sahl was ribbing politicians.

From the New York Times - Bruce Weber, Oct. 26. "Mort Sahl, Whose Biting Commentary Redefined Stand-Up, Dies at 94: A Self-appointed Warrior Against Hypocrisy, He Revolutionized Comedy in the 1950s by Addressing Political and Social Issues."
His own political leanings were difficult to track. The left wanted to claim him, especially early in his career, but they couldn’t quite do so. Among other things, he could be crudely sexist and, though he supported civil rights, he was acerbic in confrontation with knee-jerk liberal dogma on the subject.

Here are two items from the article above that will indicate why he would have a tough time if he was allowed on a campus today:

Sanctimony infuriated him: “Liberals are people who do the right things for the wrong reasons so they can feel good for 10 minutes.”

He was also in favour of capital punishment: “I’m for capital punishment,” he declared. “You’ve got to execute people — how else are they going to learn?”

Although those of you who would rather watch something than read something, have probably not made it this far, if you have, watch this YouTube lecture about the politics in the United States in 1967. Back then chalk and boards were used rather than decks and PowerPoint. Stick with it. It is really quite good and it was likely done 'live'.  He even remarks about dating at the end. 

The Bonus: 
   Since all the sources you need are provided above, I will skip to the bonus which is Factlet (9). To get right to it: In 1968, the average story on network news was 60 seconds; by 2004 it had shrunk to less than eight seconds, paving the way to today’s 280-character tweet. 
   I happened to watch (attempted to watch) the U.S. network news the other evening and saw that fact in quick action. The announcer indicated that a compelling story was coming right after another ad for another health product of some sort. I waited and when he returned, the compelling story was no longer than the announcement about it. I think there was also a picture. 
  Given that this post is also rather short, I will provide the source for Factlet (9) which also includes some more Factlets.
   It is found, along with many others, in Wildland: The Making of America's Fury, by Evan Osnos. Here are some of the others:
Osnos’s keen journalist’s eye is always on the watch for the shocking statistic. Here is a sampling. Whereas in 1964, 77 percent of Americans said they generally trusted the government, by 2014, only 18 percent did. In 1965, the average CEO’s salary was 20 times the front-line worker’s; by 2019 it was 278 times larger....In the June following George Floyd’s murder, Americans bought almost 4 million guns, more than any other month in U.S. history. Greenwich’s Golden Triangle district gave Trump a 13-point victory over Joe Biden in 2020, compared with only two points in 2016. The 34 Republican senators who blocked Trump’s second impeachment represented just 14.5 percent of the U.S. population.

I have not read the book, although I did read the piece about Greenwich in The New Yorker. The above is found in a review of the book by Lizbeth Cohen in the Washington Post, "Between 9/11 and Jan. 6, Fundamental Shifts and Deep Fractures." For more reviews see: "Wildland Review: Evan Osnos on the America Trump Exploited, Charles Kaiser, Sun 19 Sep 2021, The Guardian and "Two Authors View America From Above and Below, and Are Not Happy With What They See, "By Angus Deaton, Oct. 1, 2021, the New York Times. 

Postscript: For new readers I will just say that a Factlet is better than a Factoid. For example, see Factlet (7) which is about compulsory swimming tests on some U.S. campuses, where some standards remain for some things. The BONUS found there is that they used to take NUDE photos at some Ivies and that there are actually some "Canadian Ivies." 

Cruising Around

 

   The weather has taken a turn here and is now heading in a direction I don't like - toward the cloudy and cold barrens. Had I more money, I would be taking the ship above which is sailing into warm weather for 274 days. If you can afford it, you still have time to book. It leaves Miami on Dec. 10, 2023  and will return you there the following year, on Sept. 10, 2024. An interior room will cost only $61,000, but you can upgrade to a junior suite for $112,000. Those would be real dollars, not our Loonies.

   Given the prices, you might think you can take your time in making a decision. Perhaps you shouldn't. When Oceania Cruises announced their "Around the World in 180 Days" package, it sold out in one day with a starting price of $41,600. Silversea also had a world cruise for 2023, but it is also sold out and the prices ranged from $74,000 to $278,000 and that would be per person. You might still be able to find a spot on Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which lasts 143 days. It departs on Jan. 7, 2023 and costs from $78,000 to $209,000. Those are also real dollars. 

   I know that some would miss Christmas shopping and the Christmas decorations, but here is what December looks like if you are aboard the Serenade of the Seas:

Your New Year begins on Copacabana Beach and by Feb. 8 you would be in Cabo San Lucas. And then you are heading west to less exotic destinations like Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, Papeete, Tahiti and Bali. Eight months later you be would be still sailing and headed south toward Miami after an August spent in the north.

   I suppose some are thinking that nine months is a long time to spend at sea among strangers. But, if you are in a reasonably nice nursing home, nine months is probably costing over $50,000 and you are just sitting in one spot among strangers, much of it during the winter. 

Sources:
   I learned about this trip from this article: "For $61,000, You Can Take Royal Caribbean's 274-Night Cruise Around the World: The Ultimate World Cruise Will Visit More Than 150 Destinations," Natalie B. Compton, Washington Post, Oc.22, 2021.
   Here is the website for the Ultimate World Cruise. 
You will learn that you can take a portion of the trip. You could join the ship in Feb. and spend 87 nights cruising the Pacific and Asia. 
   Cruise Critic will tell you all about Serenade of the Seas. For example:
Royal Caribbean carries through this ship the Radiance-class' most interesting distinction is the nearly three acres of exterior glass employed in its design -- including glass elevators with ocean views -- that incorporates the outdoors, beautifully, onboard.The effect is simply dazzling -- and there are remarkable views from nearly every public room. The decorating scheme itself emphasizes elegance, grace, and beauty, and creates quite a harmonious environment. The ship is very easy to navigate, with indoor public rooms concentrated on decks five and six and more-active areas -- sports deck, pools, spa, fitness center -- on decks 11 and 12.

The Bonus: 
   When I read this, I recalled reading years ago about a ship, on which one could live and sail forever. That is, a sort-of condo ship. Known originally as Residensea World, it has been sailing since 2002.  Perhaps one of the 165 'homes' is available for purchase or rent. If you really want to sail off into the sunset, here is the ship which is now somewhere in the North Atlantic, heading south: The World: Residences at Sea. 
Imagine the ultimate lifestyle that comes with combining a private yacht and a luxury vacation home. A home that takes you all around the globe, allowing you to wake up to new scenery outside your private veranda every few days.
That is what life is like aboard The World, the largest private residential ship on the planet at 644 feet. Since our launch in 2002, The World has continuously circumnavigated the globe, spending extensive time in the most exotic and well-traveled ports, allowing Residents to wake up in a new destination every few days, exploring with depth they had never before thought possible. It is a lifestyle they are truly grateful to live each day.
With only 165 individual Homes, The World’s Residents enjoy one of the most exclusive lifestyles imaginable. 

If you are broke, you can at least read about travelling: see Travelling About. 

A Magical Library

 

Ricky Jay (again)

  I have written often about libraries and now this is the third time I will produce something about Ricky Jay. He is the author of Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women: A History of Unique, Eccentric & Amazing Entertainers. That should be enough to get your attention, but, if not, he is also the author of, Matthias Buchinger: The Greatest German Living. Mr. Jay passed away in 2018 and information about his passing and from his website is found here. 

  Apart from practicing magic and writing books, Jay collected them and also gathered all the magical memorabilia he could find. That is why he is again our subject. His lovely and very understanding wife is removing from their home some of the material he collected. There is enough stuff to warrant this article in the New York Times: "The Curious, Astounding Collection of the Magician Ricky Jay: Illusionists, Cardsharps, Charlatans and Human Cannonballs Enliven a Trove of Rare Books, Posters and Ephemera Now Going to Auction at Sotheby's," Dan Barry, Oct. 19. Apart from his legacy as a magician, he also left more than 10,000 rare books, posters, broadsides, handbills and ephemera, a vast collection that transformed his Beverly Hills home into a research library dedicated to the human desire to be fooled — to slip the cuffs of reality and believe, if only briefly, the unbelievable. He knew every item, could recite passages from ancient texts, and incorporated the material into his performances. His collection lived.

    

   When the folks from Sotheby's arrived at the Jay-Verges home, tucked into a hillside off Mulholland Drive, they were taken aback by the size and breadth of the idiosyncratic collection. 

 You will likely be taken aback as well when you view Sotheby's, The Ricky Jay Collection. You have about one week to make your bid for items such as this: Madam Yucca; The Female Hercules.

It is estimated to be sold for between $2000 -3000. If your budget is limited, you can sort the 600+ items from lowest to highest. 

   

F. Peter Cundill

 

   Every couple of years I have posted about the Cundill History Prize, which is a very good one to win. Today the short list for 2021 has just been released and is provided here. The winner will be announced on Dec.2. 

Rebecca Clifford, Survivors: Children's Lives After the Holocaust.
Marie Favereau, The Horde: How Mongols Changed the World.
Marjoleine Kars, Blood on the River: A Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast. 

                                                    The 2020 Shortlist

      In 2020, these three books were shortlisted: Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War, by Vincent Brown; The Anarchy; The Relentless Rise of the East India Company, by William Dalrymple and Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs, by Camilla Townsend. Ms. Townsend won. 

The 2020 Winner

   For lists of past nominees and winners see: Christmas Shopping for Historians (2017) and The Cundill History Prize (2019). 

   If you are shopping for more history books that have won prizes, here are some other places to look:

American Historical Association - list many different prizes for historical works in various categories. 

Canadian Historical Association - includes prize winning books and articles.  One prize is named after Professor Wallace K. Ferguson who taught at Western.

The Wolfson History Prize is a prestigious British one. 

Penguin Books publishes many others. See: Award Winners- History.

Source:  The Cundill History Prize. McGill University. 

Travelling About

Adventurous Women

   In my recent post about Northwestern University Press's "Marlboro Travel Series" I noticed, when finishing it, that two of the works are by women: the ones by Freya Stark and Ella Maillart. Then I remembered Virago Press which began in the 1970s to publish works by interesting and adventurous women. At the risk of being accused of 'appropriation', I will say in my defence that I am trying only to achieve some balance and am promoting books by women. There is below even one by a Canadian woman.

   If you are interested in books for your club, or trying to lure your daughter or granddaughter away from a screen, check out the list below (trigger alert: some of these works might be too adventurous and scary for you sons or grandsons. Perhaps I should issue another one - some of these women might not pass muster when viewed through the very narrow 'post-colonial' lens.) 

   If you are not that interested, then simply purchase the abridged version noted above. But, if you are curious about such things as Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys, then peruse the list below. You will also benefit from my blurbs and see that one of the young women kept a snake in her hair and that Ms Birtles was a rather naughty girl.

   These books are all readily available and some can be read for free via the Internet (see, e.g. High Albania and Station Life in New Zealand where I have provided direct links.) The titles that are bolded are available close by at Western University.

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. Bird.
Bird flew around. Find her below in Persia, Japan and the Yangtze Valley.

China to Me by Emily Hahn
Got a degree in Mining Engineering at the U. of Wisconsin before leaving for Europe and hiking across Africa.

The Cruel Way by Ella Maillart (Below in Iran in 1939/1940)

Apart from travelling and writing, she competed in the 1924 Olympics (as a sailor) and was a skier as well as the captain of the Swiss field hockey team.

Death's Other Kingdom by Gamel Woolsey
Born on a South Carolina plantation, she died in Spain. See the very interesting Wiki entry for her.

The Desert and the Sown: The Syrian Adventures of the Female Lawrence of Arabia by Gertrude Bell.
Surely the most popular 'Gertrude' ever.

Farewell Spain by Kate O'Brien
"This distinctly personal elegy was written during the early days of the Spanish Civil War by a writer whose future was indelibly marked by a year of travelling in a unique and changing country. A series of reminiscences, impressions and vivid insights, Kate O'Brien's thoughtful journey offers something unique at every stage, and captures perfectly the spirit of a lost place and the experience of travel and memory."

The Gobi Desert by Mildred Cable.
Surely the most popular 'Mildred' and this book "may be the best of many good books about Central Asia and the old Silk Road through the deserts of Western China."

High Albania by M. E. Durham
This is the first sentence from the no nonsense Preface which is available here:
"IF a book cannot speak for itself, it is idle to speak for it. I will waste but few words on a Preface. In my two previous Balkan books I strove to give the national points of view, the aims and aspirations, the manners and customs, of the Serbs and of the mixed population of Macedonia. I would now do the same for the people of High Albania."

In The Vine Country by E. OE. Somerville.
"Somerville was a devoted sportswoman who, in 1903, had become master of the West Carbery Foxhounds." She is found again below in Connemara. See also: the Wiki entry for Somerville and Ross. 

Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan : Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs. Vols. I, II by Isabella L. Bird

Letters from Egypt by Lucie Duff Gordon
"By the age of 13 she was reading the "Odyssey" in the original. She also kept her pet snake twined into her plaited hair, and was thought to be "un peu unmanageable" by her mother and "a potential homicide" by a friend of the family."

The London Journal of Flora Tristan by Flora Tristan.
Peruvian born, Flora Tristan's life, works, and ideals have proved fruitful for the excavation of women's work through time. See Peregrinations below.

My Journey to Lhasa by Alexandra David-Néel.
This should be enough for some of you: She "was a Belgian–French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist, opera singer, and writer."

North-west by North by Dora Birtles.
An Aussie and surely the most popular 'Birtles'. "She was ahead of her time in studying at the University of Sydney in a period when few women received a tertiary education. However, she was suspended in 1923 for a poem appearing in the literary magazine Hermes, which describes post-coital bliss. Her future husband, poet and journalist Bert Birtles, was expelled for a still more explicit poem describing their tryst on the roof of the university quadrangle."

The Passionate Nomad: The Diary of Isabelle Eberhardt by Isabelle Eberhardt.
"Eberhardt moved to Algeria in May 1897. She dressed as a man and converted to Islam, eventually adopting the name Si Mahmoud Saadi. Eberhardt's unorthodox behaviour made her an outcast among European settlers in Algeria and the French administration."

Peregrinations of a Pariah 1833-1834 by Flora Tristan
See "The Bonus" below.

Roughing it in the Bush by Susanna Moodie.
You will know enough about her, but probably not that she was born in Bungay which is in Suffolk.

Station Life in New Zealand by Lady Barker.
It begins at sea and here are the first few lines from Project Gutenberg:
Port Phillip Hotel, Melbourne. September 22d, 1865. .... Now I must give you an account of our voyage: it has been a very quick one for the immense distance traversed, sometimes under canvas, but generally steaming. We saw no land between the Lizard and Cape Otway light—that is, for fifty-seven days: and oh, the monotony of that time!—the monotony of it! Our decks were so crowded that we divided our walking hours, in order that each set of passengers might have space to move about....

Through Connemara in a Governess Cart by E. OE. Somerville

Travels in West Africa by Mary Kingsley. 1982.
I discovered this in the stacks years ago and enjoyed it. "The notable success of Travels in West Africa was due in no small part to the vigour and droll humour of writing, that, in the guise of a ripping yarn, never wavers from its true purpose – to complete the work her father had left undone."

Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella L. Bird

Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys: A Midsummer Ramble in the Dolomites by Amelia B. Edwards.
If, like me, you are untalented, this you will find irritating: "She published her first poem at the age of seven and her first story at the age of twelve....In addition, Edwards became an artist....Thirdly, Edwards took up composing and performing music for some years, until she suffered a bout of typhus in 1849....Other interests she pursued included pistol shooting, riding and mathematics..." 

Up the Country; Letters From India by Emily Eden.
She wrote novels as well and these two titles are good ones:
"Eden wrote two successful novels: The Semi-Detached House (1859) and The Semi-Attached Couple (1860). The latter was written in 1829, but not published until 1860. Both have a comic touch that critics have compared with that of Jane Austen, who was Emily's favourite author.[6] The first of the two has been described as "an accomplished study in the social contrasts of aristocratic style, bourgeois respectability and crass vulgarity."

The Virago Book of Women Travellers by Mary Morris

West with the Night by Beryl Markham.
"On 4 September 1936, she took off from Abingdon, England. After a 20-hour flight, her Percival Vega Gull, The Messenger, suffered fuel starvation due to icing of the fuel tank vents, and she crash-landed at Baleine Cove on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. She thereby became the first woman to cross the Atlantic east-to-west solo, and the first person to make it from England to North America non-stop from east to west. She was celebrated as an aviation pioneer." I have a copy of her biography: Straight On Till Morning, and will give it to you if you email me.

Yangtze Valley and Beyond by Isabella L. Bird. 1985.
"In January 1896, at the age of 64, the indomitable Isabella Bird set off to explore the Yangtze River and the lonely mountain region of north-west China. A veteran of twenty years travel in America, Asia and the Near East, it was her last great adventure, but one as full of drama and spectacle as anything that had gone before. Eschewing the leisure enjoyed by England's expatriate community in Shanghai, she was thrilled and occasionally aghast at what she found in the little-known land which lay beyond. Travelling alone by riverboat and basket chair, she made her way almost to the Tibetan border, staying in inns and mission stations, observing with fascination the landscape and customs of the people, surviving the terror of a lynching mob, the hostitily of officials who would block her path and the perils of snow storms at 12,000 feet." -

Sources:

   For information about Virago, see the Wikipedia entry for Virago Press. Although Virago Press no longer exists as a separate entity, as a subsidiary Virago imprints are still available here. Some of you will appreciate that it began as Spare Rib Books. 

   Dervla Murphy is not mentioned above. I have her, Cameroon With Egbert and Transylvania and Beyond and she is a subject in my post On Barfing.  She will be 90 next month. Egbert was her horse in Africa.

The Bonus: 

Flora Tristan is Paul Gauguin's maternal grandmother. He also was a fascinating traveller and the Wiki entry for Paul Gauguin will keep you busy for the rest of the day. 

Northwestern University Press

 

Marlboro Travel Series

   Winter is rapidly approaching, but travel restrictions and hassles are only slowly being lessened.  Reading is an option and picking up books is easier than getting through an airport. If you enjoy learning about travel to exotic places, this list will be of interest and perhaps even of use.  You can find out what it was like to travel to Ecuador in the 1920s or go from Italy to India in 1912.

    I have posted about university presses and book series and this one provides a combination of those two interests. The result is a list of fine travel accounts. The press is at Northwestern University and the series is 'Marlboro Travel'. It shows, once again, that publishing by universities can provide another outlet for good books.

   All of these books are available from Northwestern University Press and they are reasonably priced. Some of the older works are available for free over the internet. All of these books can also be found via booksellers like AbeBooks and Amazon. Of the seventeen books listed, fourteen (the ones bolded)  are found at the campus nearby - Western University. Check the catalogue, or with a librarian before heading to campus.

An Italian Journey

by Jean Giono

In An Italian Journey, Jean Giono describes his journey to the land of his father's people. A reluctant traveler (he rarely left Provence), Giono discovers a strange beauty not only in the palazzi and canals of Venice but also in wistful waiters, suspicious hairdressers, pugnacious men of God, recalcitrant coffeemakers, umbrellas, and field machinery. In Giono's world a stamp collectors' market can appear to verge on revolution and inept municipal musicians suddenly offer Mozartian joys.

Baghdad Sketches

by Freya Stark

In the fall of 1928, thirty-five year-old Freya Stark set out on her first journey to the Middle East. She spent most of the next four years in Iraq and Persia, visiting ancient and medieval sites, and traveling alone through some of the wilder corners of the region.

By the Ionian Sea

by George Gissing

The second of two memorable trips to the Mediterranean. The second was to Calabria and the wild Italian coast south of Naples. From bad food to filthy inns and dangerously watered wine, to a strange malarial-type fever which kept him bedridden for days, Gissing suffered all for the sake of viewing the sites and old ruins of "Magna Graecia," and to see for himself the classical cities he called his "land of romance." Filled with humor, pathos, and captivating landscapes, By the Ionian Sea continues to inspire the traveler, while re-educating the reader in the glories of this still-forgotten corner of Italy.

Cities and Sea-Coasts and Islands

by Arthur Symons

Arthur Symons's collection of twenty-six essays on travel in Spain, life in London, and sojourns among islands and sea-coasts of France, England, and Ireland first appeared in the United States in 1919. His verbal portraits of the places he visited, whether bold and colorful or sensitive and merely suggestive, are as intriguing and interesting today as when he first wrote them.

Ecuador: A Travel Journal

by Henri Michaux

Poet Henri Michaux boarded a ship for Ecuador in 1927 as "a man who knows neither how to travel nor how to keep a journal." The result is a work of pointed observation and sensual, even hallucinogenic, poetry and prose.

Eothen

by Alexander William Kinglake

In the autumn of 1834, Alexander Kinglake and John Savile set out together for Turkey and the Levant. When Savile was summoned home Kinglake, accompanied only by his guide and interpreter, went on by ship to Cyprus and Beirut, then to the Holy Land, Cairo, and Damascus. On his own in a foreign world, Kinglake used the solitary travel for prolonged self-scrutiny, and ultimately for liberation.

Forbidden Journey

by Ella K. Maillart

Introduction by Dervla Murphy

In 1935 Ella Maillart contemplated one of the most arduous journeys in the world: the "impossible journey" from Peking, then a part of Japanese-occupied China, through the distant province of Sinkiang (present day Tukestan), to Kashmir. Traveling along with newswriter Peter Fleming and also her companion Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Maillart undertook a journey considered almost beyond imagination for any European and doubly so for a woman.

Hills and the Sea

by Hilaire Belloc

Hills and the Sea, first published in 1906 to critical acclaim, collects thirty-eight of Hilaire Belloc's essays, spanning several periods of time and travel. The New York Times noted, "[This] book abounds in sweetness and light, and one must be something more than human or something less not to find therein some congenial and sympathetic message--possibly many."

Italian Journeys

by W.D. Howells

Italian Journeys, published in 1867 and written during the four years Howells spent as an American consul in Venice, is more than a lively and entertaining book of travel. It is also a shrewd and perceptive inspection of persons and places European. On every page it interrogates European values while between every line it grapples with problems of American identity.

Journey toward the Cradle of Mankind

by Guido Gozzano

The distinguished Italian poet Guido Gozzano (1883-1916) embarked for India in February 1912, ostensibly to treat his tuberculosis. His trip lasted three months and, all told, he spent six weeks on the subcontinent. His dispatches home for a newspaper are collected and published here in English for the first time.

Mogreb-El-Acksa: A Journey in Morocco

by R.B. Cunninghame Graham

Introduction by Edward Garnett

R. B. Cunninghame Graham's trek into the Moroccan interior is a classic of travel writing. Intending to reach the forbidden city of Tarudant, he was instead captured and held prisoner for four months in a medieval castle, where he observed in detail the panorama of Berber life. Part history, part social commentary as only the British wrote it, this account makes fascinating reading nearly a century later.

Old Calabria

by Norman Douglas

First published in 1915, Old Calabria is a comprehensive and exciting account of adventure travel. Captivated by the pagan quality of the mezzogiorno, Norman Douglas plunged into Calabria, the southernmost and most backward part of Italy (a province that was still largely devoid of any form of modern amenity). He endured extremes of climate, scaled mountains, rode in carriages driven by villainous coachmen, and traversed remote stretches of country where murderous groups of banditti were known to roam. As Jon Manchip White points out in his introduction, it "makes good reading, but it must have constituted a protracted and frightening ordeal--frightening, that is, to anyone except someone like Douglas, possessed of a more than normal share of guts and fortitude."

The Sea and the Jungle

by H. M. Tomlinson

Considered a masterpiece of travel literature for nearly a century, The Sea and the Jungle is a wise and witty book of firsts: ostensibly a lighthearted story of a Londoner's first ocean voyage, it is also a carefully crafted journalistic account of the first successful ascent of the Amazon River and its tributary, the Madeira, by an English steamer. First published in 1912, The Sea and the Jungle remains one of the most popular accounts of a traveler's experience in Amazonia. As Peter Matthiessen observed fifty years later, " The Sea and the Jungle is one of the few level-headed works in the literature of this region. . . . accurate and difficult to improve upon."

The Spirit of Mediterranean Places

by Michael Butor

This book gathers French writer Michel Butor's essays on his travel in the Mediterranean. Included are pieces on Cordova, Istanbul, Salonica, Delphi, Crete, and northern Italy, as well as an extended essay on Egypt--where, when he was 24, Butor spent a year teaching French in a secondary school. Michel Butor is one of the leading exponents of the avant-garde writing that emerged in France in the 1950s .

Travels Through France and Italy

by Tobias Smollett

Introduction by Osbert Sitwell

"Traduced by malice, persecuted by fiction, abandoned by false patrons, and overwhelmed by the sense of a domestic calamity," Tobias Smollett set off on a journey through France and Italy to relieve his despair. While there, he wrote regularly to his friends, and the result is this fascinating, wholeheartedly personal account of places he encountered.

Travels through France and Italy is a landmark work in travel literature. Full of prejudice, grousing, sharp observation, and caustic satire, it is the first travel book in modern literature to go beyond the simple conveyance of information to reflect the writer's state of mind.

Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes

by Robert Louis Stevenson

In 1878 Robert Louis Stevenson set out on a walking tour of the Cévennes behind Modestine, the donkey that carried his baggage. The one hundred twenty-mile trip was through difficult country and Modestine proved to be less than agreeable, too. Although Stevenson's adventure lasted only twelve days, his account suggests a much longer journey, with all sorts of backward glances, detours, and retracing of steps, both on the terrain and in spirit.

Venetian Life

by W.D. Howells

In 1869 W. D. Howells, in reward for having written a campaign biography of Abraham Lincoln, was given the job of consul in Venice.For a young nineteenth-century American who had left  school when he was nine to earn a living, the hardest part of his sinecure was that he had almost nothing to do. "I dreaded the easily formed habit of receiving a salary for no service performed," he wrote. "I reminded myself that, soon or late, I must go back to the old fashion of earning money, and that it had better be sooner than later."

Venetian Life flows from the enchantment, the magical improbability, of the years Howell spent in that magnificent city dining with the rich, mingling with the humble, and reporting it all with a uniquely American wit and curiosity.

Sources:
  For other university presses mentioned on this blog see, for example: the list of Environmental Books from the University of Washington and the regional publications from Wayne State and Penn State. 

  The book descriptions above are all from the Northwestern University Press website. In the interest of full disclosure, I have not yet read any of them. Perhaps I will start with Maillart's Forbidden Journey, since I recall reading about that trip from Peter Fleming, who deserves a post of his very own. 

A Black Sculpture

    

   The Black sculpture pictured above was created by the Black sculptor, Hank Willis Thomas. It has travelled across the continent and been displayed in various museums and galleries. Here is another image from a different exhibition from a different perspective. 

The sculpture was purchased recently and now rests privately in the back garden of a home in Vancouver, British Columbia.

   Mr. Thomas is a very interesting multimedia artist who often deals with Black conceptual subjects. That makes sense since he spent a fair amount of time in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, where his mother, Deborah Willis,  was employed as an art and photo historian. She is also interesting and a winner of a MacArthur Grant. She has her own Wikipedia entry, as does Mr. Thomas. They are both so interesting, I will leave for you at the bottom, some resources where their talents and interests are better described by others. 

   What I find interesting is the fact the source for the inspiration for the sculpture, now on the West Coast, is found on the East Coast. In fact, in a town very near the one in which I was raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 

   That town is Cambridge and the events that are now memorialized in that Black sculpture occurred in May of 1964. At that time, the Eastern Shore was still a segregated region and race relations were strained.  Alabama Gov. George Wallace was a presidential candidate and when he attempted to address a whites-only audience, things did not go well, as this headline indicates: "Racial Hotbed: Cambridge, MD: Wallace Visit Unleashes Race Riots in Cambridge:" Here is a partial account of what transpired. "Eleven integrationists were under arrest and two others hospitalized in the aftermath of a wild brick-throwing Negro street demonstration quelled by National Guard tear gas..." Guardsmen under the command of Col. Maurice Tawes, a distant cousin of Maryland Gov. J. Millard Tawes, at first tried to break up the demonstration by pulling some of the leaders from the group. But, that started a free-for-all among the Negroes and the soldiers. As a last measure, Tawes ordered tear gas bombs fired." 

   That report is from the Chicago Daily Defender, May 13, 1964. There had been other protests and riots and 'militia law' (a form of limited martial law) had been in place since the summer before. Two weeks later, this article appeared in the New York Times:"New Riot Erupts in Cambridge, MD: Four Guardsmen Hurt, One by Gunfire, as Negroes Are Dispensed With Gas," (May 26, 1964.)

   Above, I highlighted "pulled some leaders from the group." One of them was Clifford Vaughs, a black activist. 

Sources:
   There are many, starting with the Wikipedia entries for Mr. Thomas and Ms. Willis. His own website, has photos, illustrations and a lengthy CV and bibliography. His mother's is found here: Deb Willis. 
   Many articles about his exhibitions are easily found. See, for example, the one at Art Basel in Miami, and at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.  He was even exhibited at the AGO -"Art in the Spotlight: Hank Willis Thomas," and the Globe and Mail published an article about him when he won the $50,000 Aimia/AGO Photography Prize for 2017. (by Brad Wheeler, Dec. 4, 2017.)
   For his early career see: "Artist Hank Willis Thomas and Gallerist Jack Shainman Share Their Story: The two friends look back on 15 years of collaborating," Hilarie M. Sheets, Galerie, April 6, 2020. 

   For another post about race and the Eastern Shore, see my account of the Last Lynching in Maryland. 

The Bonus: 
   A few years ago, we visited Crystal Bridges, deep in the Arkansas woods and you should go if you get a chance. I discussed the visit in Amazing Accomplishments and I also wrote about the fine library at Crystal Bridges in this post about Unexpected Libraries. 

The Old Card Catalogue

    

   I have mentioned before that Western Libraries (and many other university libraries) are getting rid of books. One of the reasons for this is that the students value more the space, so the stacks are being removed to allow areas for the students to participate in various collaborative  endeavours. Now that I have put it that way, I do remember that in the old days students could be quite creative in the ways in which they engaged even between the stacks.

   Long before the books were discarded or placed in a remote storage area, the old card catalogue which one used to find them, was sent to the dumpster. There were some muted cries about that and concerns that one wouldn't be able to find the books, back when that mattered. There was also likely some fear among the aging professors that one might have to use some sort of computing gadget. At one university, one far older than Western, the decision was made to keep the old card catalogue as a valuable historical artifact (for an interesting article about why see: "The Old Card Catalog: Collaborative Effort Will Preserve Its History," Anne E. Bromley, University of Virginia News, Dec. 9, 2019.)

   The card catalogues were removed and are now not missed. Although I have been sorry to see the books disappear, the electronic catalogue works well and the dwindling number of books and journals can be easily found from the comfort of your home on a snowy evening, while the library is closed. Now, when using the Western catalogue, one can even determine if a book is in one of the other Ontario universities (or in a storage facility) and it can be retrieved. 

   There are still catalogues in Western Libraries, just not wooden card catalogues. They exist in the form of books which list the contents of various libraries. Many are the catalogues of  personal libraries, while others reveal the contents of libraries at other institutions. One can find at Western the Catalogue of the Library at Kildalton Castle and even the Catalogue of the Library of the University of Virginia, mentioned above. It is the catalogue of books found in that library in 1828.  There are many, many others and a Baker's Dozen are listed below. I thought it might be useful to record some of them since they are likely to go the way of the old card catalogue.

Catalogue of the library of George Perkins Marsh.
Catalogue of the library of the late Hon. Rufus Choate. 
A catalogue of the library of the late John Duke of Roxburghe
Catalogue of the library of John Gray, Haddington
Catalogue of the Library of the William Henry Barrett Estate
Catalogue of the music library of Vincent Novello,
Catalogue of the music library of Charles Burney 
Catalogue of the library of the late Lord Byron 
Catalogue of the Early English Books of John L. Clawson
A Descriptive Catalog of the Private Library of Thomas B. Lockwood
Catalogue of the library of Robert L. Stuart.
A catalogue of the library of George Santayana
A catalogue of the Library of Thomas Baker

   So what? Well, some of these are of interest to scholars. That does not mean they are of interest to people like us, but below, in a bit, I will try to come up with a few samples for those of us with lower brows. As for the scholars, many are interested in understanding how particular intellectuals came up with their ideas. What those thinkers read, may provide a clue. If, for example, you are wondering about  Adam Smith and his "invisible hand" you can re-trace his reading and look for it. Western has several catalogues of his library and even A Full and Detailed Catalogue of Books Which Belonged to Adam Smith: Now in the Possession of the Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo!  One of the reviewers of Mizuta's Adam Smith's Library: A Catalogue, concludes that, Mizuta’s work is highly recommended for all libraries collecting the great products of UK civilization (perhaps not such a great plug in our post-colonial times.) So, professors used such books and libraries acquired them. 

   Among the samples of catalogues above, you may have noticed that two are related to music library collections and often personal libraries were highly specialized.  In many cases, the catalogues came into existence when the contents of private libraries were being sold. When John L. Clawson's collection was sold in 1926, $642,687 was collected. He was from Buffalo as was Thomas B. Lockwood and you can learn more about Lockwood's books at the Rare & Special Books Collection at the University at Buffalo. 

 The books listed in the Catalogue of the Library of the William Henry Barrett Estate, would have been found closer by, in Port Dover.  Mr. Barrett learned in 1926 that he had inherited a huge amount of money and the books of Quinton Dick who had died years before in Ireland. With the money he built a replica of the Irish Clonmel Castle and, you can stay at the one in Port Dover. Here is the link. Apparently, many of the books ended up at the ROM. As I mentioned, there are things of interest to be found in these books, even if one is not a scholar. 

Sources:

  More can be learned about William Henry Barrett at the Clonmel Castle site. This article described the events at the time of the inheritance: "Port Dover Farmer Wins Court Round for Large Estate: Total May Be Millions," Globe and Mail, July 2, 1926. This useful bit is found at Memorybc.ca: 

William Henry "Harry" Barrett was born in Port Dover, Ontario in 1864. He left Port Dover in 1886, travelling west to Spallumcheen to help his Uncle Harry run the 320-acre Mountain Meadow Ranch north of Otter Lake. He married Julia Rebecca "Nonah" Pelly in 1894, and they had three sons. Shortly after the birth of his third child in 1898, Nonah died. Harry left for Port Dover, taking his two sons with him and leaving the new baby with his wife's parents. Harry returned to school in Port Dover, becoming a veterinarian and a sheep rancher. In 1925, he inherited $2.5 million from his grandfather, the founder of the Bank of Ireland. In 1929, he built Clonmel, modelled after an Irish country house. He and his second wife lived there until their deaths in 1942 and 1970 respectively.

The depression was not such a bad thing for Mr. Barrett.

   As for the importance of these catalogues see: On the Private Collecting of Book Catalogues," Wm. P. Barlow Jr. The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America Vol. 102, No. 4 (December, 2008), pp. 547-555

 See also this seminar: "Private Library Catalogues as Sources for Library History: An Appreciation," Meghan Constantinou (held at the Grolier Club, New York.)

The Bonus:

   The collection of books in the private library of William Henry Barrett, should not be confused with the one of John Davis Barnett, upon which the collections of the Western Library were built. About that see: "The Forgotten Story of J.D. Barnett: Western Libraries' 'Founding Father'," by Carmen Mallia. Western Gazette, Sept. 26, 2018.

   That Western has such a solid collection of book catalogues can be explained by the fact that many of them were held in another Western Library that has disappeared. The records for many of these books indicate they were donations from the "William J. Cameron Reading Room" which was in the old Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS). While many of the books in that collection were discarded, these were kept. Some others were purchased by Dr. John Clouston, with whom I had the pleasure to work. They were donated to King's University College Library and are described here:

SAMUEL & MADELINE CLOUSTON COLLECTION

This impressive collection of 15th — 18th-century imprints was acquired largely from the former rare book collection of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, The University of Western Ontario. The items were purchased by the former Chief Librarian, Dr. John S. Clouston (1993 -2005), and gifted to King’s University College in 1998. Named in honour of his late parents, it consists of works of history, literature, biography, philosophy, theology and travel, chiefly from the United Kingdom, France, Italy and the Low Countries.

   The Western Libraries did snag a collection from the library of Gregory Clark and you can find them all described here: Angling Books: The Gregory Clark Piscatorial Collection. 

   I did a post earlier about Mark Twain's Library.

   Surprisingly enough, such private libraries continue to exist. See: "Private Libraries That Inspire: Difficult to Build and Maintain, These Elaborate Spaces Contain the Passions and Obsessions of Their Owners." By Katy McLaughlin, Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2019.

Forget the Dewey Decimal System: Entrepreneur and inventor Jay Walker’s 25,000 books, manuscripts, artifacts and objects are organized in his personal 3,600-square-foot library “randomly, by color and height,” he said. When he walks into his library, part of his Ridgefield, Conn., home, the room automatically “wakes up,” glowing with theatrical lighting, music and LED-lit glass panels lining various walkways. He finds items to peruse by a system of memory, chance, and inspiration, he said....

Walking Around Prince Edward Island

 

   Just over a year ago, I did a post about the England Coast National Trail which is about 4500 km long. If you are not up for that, you can stay in Canada and hike The Island Walk  around all of PEI. It is only about 700 km. 

   The Island Walk website is a good place to start. It provides the map above and an explanation for the markers. I learned about it from the G&M article cited below, from which this description was taken:

The Island Walk is broken up into 32 sections and can be started at any point. Lodging should be booked ahead of time, and partner hotels along or close to the route that offer transfers are listed on the Island Walk website. The signposted trails are user-friendly and not terribly challenging, save for a few rolling hills here and there. The route mostly follows the coastline, and goes through the island’s cities and towns while also venturing onto parts of the existing Confederation Trail that runs across PEI and has long been popular with cyclists….

  It is likely a circumnavigation most of us could complete. 

Sources:
"PEI’s New Island Walk, Inspired by the Camino de Santiago, Lets Visitors Travel the Province Entirely on Foot," Lola Augustine Brown, The Globe and Mail, Sept. 17, 2021.
   Bryson Guptill is one of the people responsible for the idea of creating the path around the island after having walked the Camino de Santiago.  He has written a book about his experience which is available for download here (there is a charge): The Island Walk: This is the first-ever book about our inaugural 700 km walk around the perimeter of Prince Edward Island, Canada. The walk took 32 days and we averaged 20 - 25km/ day. The book describes our route, where we stopped each day, our accommodations, and where we ate. It also suggests interesting things to see and do along the way. 
   One of the places you can stay along the way is the Siren's Beach Hotel which offers a package for Island Walkers. 
   For information about The Confederation Trail :
The Confederation Trail runs tip-to-tip across Prince Edward Island and is best explored on foot or bicycle. Built on the decommissioned railway line, the main trail is 273 kilometres from west to east - Tignish to Elmira. Branch trails run through small towns and communities including the heart of Charlottetown. The gradients along this rolled stone dust trail never exceed two per cent making it suitable for all fitness levels.

The Bonus:

   If you want to begin training closer to home,  Ontario Trails is a good place to start.  You can browse by area and if you look at London you will find Kains Woods, the Kirk-Cousins Trail and many others.

   If you want to sing along the way, some good songs and lyrics are found in my Trail Tunes for Old Timers. 

The News From Down Under

 

   In short: It is not good and it is the same as the news up here. I have commented, perhaps too often, about how bad things are in the headlines and that is one reason why I have been reading little that was published after 1929.  Perhaps parochialism is my problem, I thought, so I took a look at what is going on in Australia. It is spring there and surely things must be better than here.

   I was wrong and this report will be a short one. First, I was prepared and expected to see a lot about the less-than Royal Couple, but found Britney instead. The headline in the Geelong Advertiser is: "BRITNEY BOMBSHELL AS DAD FINALLY BOOTED." Even farther down, the Hobart Mercury reports that: "CROWDS GATHER TO AWAIT DECISION ON FUTURE OF BRITNEY SPEAR'S CONSERVATORSHIP." And, then there is Covid and even worse, there are also Aussies who don't want to get vaxxed: "MAN-BABIES SHOULD GET A JAB, WEAR A MASK AND GROW UP," The Sydney Morning Herald.  I knew that Rupert owned much of the news there, as he does here, and I knew that the Great Barrier Reef is now not so great, but I was hoping for better news from the Aussies. 

   I can offer some southern content that will make you feel better. If you started humming a tune when you read "Down Under", you were probably thinking of the one by the Melbourne band, Men At Work. Here it is and it will brighten your day: DOWN UNDER.  And, if you really want a laugh and are over 21, check out these Kiwis, The Flight of the Conchords and their rendition of Business Time. 

The Bonus: 
   I failed to find better news Down Under, but I did grab you a quiz that I cribbed from The Courier Mail in Brisbane.  Here it is:

1. Who is the middle child of TV’s Homer and Marge Simpson?
2. Melbourne is on what bay?
3. The Old Dart is an old-fashioned nickname for what country?
4. What word rhyming with “gusset” denotes a reddish brown colour?
5. Who was recently re-elected as prime minister of Canada?
6. TV personality Johanna Griggs represented Australia in which sport?
7. The name of what great ape comes from the Malay for “forest person”?
8. W.H. Auden was best known in what field of literature?
9. What is the name of the killer played by Anthony Hopkins in film The Silence of the Lambs?
10. What name is shared by the capital of French Guiana, and a type of spicy chilli pepper used in cooking?
11. Which Creedence Clearwater Revival hit song mentions “Willy and the Poor Boys”?
12. Which British king famously abdicated in 1936?
13. Which AFL player won the 2021 Brownlow Medal?
14. What pigment gives plants their green colour?
15. Which of these is an official currency of Panama: rambo, balboa, or corleone?
16. Actor Willie Garson, who died last month aged 57, was famous for his recurring role as Stanford Blatch on which US TV series?
17. The three “unalienable rights” outlined in the US Declaration of Independence are “life, liberty and the pursuit of …” what?
18. The song I’m Every Woman was originally a hit in the ‘70s for which singer?
19. Winner of the Booker Prize for his 2015 novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, author Marlon James is from what country?
THE STUMPER
20. The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is made up of which four countries, whose leaders recently met at the White House.

The Bonus Bonus For Paying Subscribers - The Answers:

1. Lisa Simpson 2. Port Phillip Bay 3. England/Britain 4. Russet 5. Justin Trudeau 6. Swimming 7. Orang-utan 8. Poetry 9. Hannibal Lecter 10. Cayenne 11. Down on the Corner 12. King Edward VIII 13. Ollie Wines 14. Chlorophyll 15. Balboa16. Sex and the City 17. Happiness 18. Chaka Khan19. Jamaica 20. USA, Australia, India, Japan

The Hudson River School

 

Autumn Landscape With Cattle 
by 
Jasper Francis Cropsey 

   It is a rather dreary day here, so I will provide some pretty pictures. Just as my thoughts are unfashionable, so are my aesthetic judgements. I prefer romantic landscapes such as the one above, done by Cropsey who was a member of the Hudson River School of Art. I noticed it recently in an exhibition catalogue. It is for sale and if you have $325,000 American dollars, it could be yours. One of his paintings, The Backwoods of America, used to be found up on the Western campus. It no longer is. If you want to see the painting and read about the controversy that ensued when it was sold, see this post: JASPER CROPSEY. 

 The Pretty Pictures: 
   You can begin at Questroyal Fine Art, LLC where the painting above is found in the current exhibition of "American Masters." There are many additional paintings in the Questroyal inventory. 
   Then have a look at the essay about "The Hudson River School" by Kevin J. Avery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
   The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art has a large collection. 

The Bonus:
   If the U.S. border re-opens, you can explore the Hudson River School Art Trail.