American Mountain Series

    For readers interested in mountains, this series will be attractive. It was identified in the very useful bibliography produced by Carol Fitzgerald and published by Oak Knoll: Series Americana: Post Depression-era Regional Literature, 1938-1980: a Descriptive Bibliography Including Biographies of the Authors, Illustrators, and Editors, ed. by Jean Fitzgerald. 2v. Oak Knoll/Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, 2009. 
   None of the books listed are in the public domain, but they can all be found on AbeBooks and elsewhere. The Western University catalogue was searched and five of the books found - the two bolded titles are in the Western Libraries (a search of the Western catalogue now includes the holding of some other Ontario university libraries and they are provided below.)The search was done in early 2025.
   In some cases, the contents are listed and a few reviews and other sources are noted. 

         "American Mountain Series" (Vanguard Publishing) ‒ Roderick Peattie,
          Editor,1942-1952.

"The Mountain series, edited by geologist Roderick Peattie and written by scientists and local experts of the day, includes nine volumes published between 1942 and 1952 . The books provide detailed, scholarly portraits of the major mountain ranges in the United States." 

   For more information about the editor, Roderick Peattie, see: “Roderick Peattie, Geographer and Romanticist, 1891-1955,’ by Guy-Harold Smith, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1957-03, Vol.47, (1), pg.97.
  Roderick Peattie's brother has already been profiled in Mulcahy's Miscellany: See: 
 Donald Culross Peattie (1898 -1964). Some samples of his writing are found in No.7, The Pacific Coast Ranges. 

1.The Berkshires: The Purple Hills, W.P. Eaton, et al, - Guelph, Ottawa.

   Contents, [iii-v]; CONTENTS: What are the Berkshire hills? By W.P. Eaton.-With what the hills are clothed, by A.K. Simpson.-Four seasons of Berkshire bird lore, by G.J. Wallace.-Byways to pleasure, by Bartlett Hendricks.-Streams and casting, by Theodore Giddings.-Man changes the landscape through gardening, by A.K. Simpson.-Winter sports among the hills, by Bartlett Hendricks.-Indian legends, by Haydn Mason.-Two hundred and fifty years of history, by W.P. Eaton.-Berkshire folks and folkways, by W.S. Annin.-The invaders and what they have meant, by Margaret Cresson.-The Berkshire Festival, by Margaret Cresson.- Illustrations, p. [vii-ix]; Index, p. 401-414. - [Map] "Berkshire County", on front and back lining papers."

2. The Black Hills, Roderick Peattie, - Western - storage - F657.B6P4.
   Contents, [iii-iv]; CONTENTS: [1.] The Black Hills / by Badger Clark - [2.] Where B.C. means Before Custer / by Leland D. Case - [3.] History catches up / by Leland D. Case - [4.] Crazy Horse -the greatest among them / by Elmo Scott Watson - [5.] Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane / by Clarence S. Paine - [6.] "Don't fence me in!" / by Paul Friggens - [7.] The tourists come / by Badger Clark - [8.] The mountain that had its face lifted / by Badger Clark - [9.] The Black Hills -a storehouse of mineral treasure / by R.V. Hunkins - [10.] America's greatest gold mine -the Homestake / by R.V. Hunkins.Illustrations, p. [v-vi]; Index, p. 311-320]"

3.The Cascades: Mountains of the Pacific Northwest. N/A

4. The Friendly Mountains: Green, White, and Adirondacks, Roderick Peattie,- Guelph, Ottawa.  

5. The Great Smokies and the Blue Ridge: The Story of the Southern Appalachians, Roderick Peattie, Western - storage - F443.G7P4 

6. The Inverted Mountains: Canyons of the West, N/A
   Contents, p. v-viii; CONTENTS: Canyon review - by Weldon F. Heald; Features of the canyon country - by Edwin D. McKee; Fossil life of the canyon country - Edwin D. McKee; Three hundred years of Spain - By Weldon F. Heald; Indian life - past and present - by Harold S. Colton; The Americans come - by Weldon F. Heald; The Colorado River - by Weldon F. Heald; Riding Grand Canyon rapids - by Weldon F. Heald; The canyon wilderness - by Weldon F. Heald; On foot and in the saddle - by Edwin D. McKee; The canyon trails - by Edwin D. McKee; Environment controls life - by Edwin d. McKee; Illustrations, p. ix-x; Index, p. 379-390]"

7. The Pacific Coast Ranges, Roderick Peattie, - McMaster, York.
    Contents, p. v-ix; CONTENTS: "Father Serra's rosary" / by Donald Culross Peattie -The first inhabitants of the coast ranges / by John Walton Caughey - Footsteps of spring -a wild flower trail / by Donald Culross Peattie - Glimpses of wild life / by Aubrey Drury - Foothills / by Judy Van der Veer - Farm, rock, and vine folk / by Idwal Jones - Headlands in California writing / by John Walton Caughey - The wilderness mountains / by Lois Crisler - Timber / by Thomas Emerson Ripley - People of the Oregon Coast Range / by Archie Binns - People of the Washington Coast Range / by Archie Binns - The geologic story / by Daniel E. Willard - Climatic transitions and contrasts / by Richard Joel Russell.Illustrations, p. xi-xii; Maps of the Pacific coast ranges [by Guy-Harold Smith], p. [384-386]; Index, p. 387-402 

8. The Rocky Mountains, Wallace W. Atwood. N/A 

9. The Sierra Nevada: The Range of Light, N/A.
   For a positive review see: Ruth E. Baugh, Pacific Historical Review, Vol.- 17, No.2, p.223.

A Few Bits About Books

    My output has been sparse so I will attempt to come up with something quickly to boost my April production. It is also the case that the weather remains dreary and I am not that interested in hockey.

National Library Week

"National Library Week begins on Sunday, and the timing couldn’t be better. This annual celebration used to feel quaint; now it sounds like an existential rallying cry."(Ron Charles)  

   I noticed that it was a week to celebrate libraries in the U.S. In Canada the month of October is dedicated to them and there are library days, weeks and months throughout this country. As you will know, I am a fan of libraries and books and I suggest we should all be paying more attention to both of them.

Banned Books and Censorship
   One reason to do so is that libraries are under attack and librarians are being threatened. President Biden even mentioned the problem in his recent announcement about running again. Canadians should not be complacent as this headline indicates: "Libraries Are In the Political Crosshairs as They Fight Back Against U.S. Book Bans: Canadians Should Keep an Eye on Efforts to Remove Books From Libraries South of the Border," Nick Logan, CBC News, April 21, 2023. Another headline indicates the situation is the same in the U.K.: "Third of U.K. Librarians Asked to Censor or Remove Books, Research Reveals,"

  The libraries and books are victims of the collateral damage inflicted by the culture wars. There have always been people who wanted to restrict what others read, but generally the focus was on sex and ideology whereas now the concern is mostly  over books about gender and identity. Librarians, usually a liberal bunch, have been resisting, but one hopes they also protect the illiberal items on the shelves as well (even the Dr. Seuess books and the unedited Roald Dahl ones) and keep the other books which are now deemed noxious and continue ordering them.

  There is even a Banned Books Week, during which the American Library Association calls attention to the censorship pressures. The ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom notes that censorship challenges are up nearly 40% over 2021.

"ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, the most challenged and reasons cited for censoring the books are listed below." 

 

  The censorship efforts extend beyond libraries and into schools. The chart above comes from this study: "Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools."

Library Appreciation
   The importance of libraries to some patrons is noted by Ron Charles of the Washington Post, who wrote in this week's newsletter that a fundraiser has been established to dedicate a chair in the New York Public Library to Alfred Kazin who died 25 years ago. Kazin spent a lot of time in the room pictured above. 

"In his 1978 memoir “New York Jew,” Alfred Kazin recalled his early enthusiasm for the New York Public Library:
“Whenever I was free to read, the great Library seemed free to receive me,” he wrote. “There was something about the vibrating empty rooms early in the morning — light falling through the great tall windows, the sun burning the smooth tops of the golden tables as if they had been freshly painted — that made me restless with the need to grab up every book, press into every single mind right there on the open shelves.” 
The library was Kazin’s sanctuary and his laboratory. He started publishing book reviews when he was 19. Before he was 30, he’d written “On Native Grounds,” an instant classic of literary criticism."

  You may recall that another Jewish writer close by in New Jersey spent a lot of time in the Newark Public Library and donated his library to it and a space was dedicated for a room for Philip Roth (see: Actual Libraries.)

Books: Real or Fake?
   That is Lord Black of Crossharbour who is once again a Canadian citizen and the picture was in Canadian papers today. It is here because he appears surrounded by books. Even if you do not like Conrad Black, you would likely agree that he has read a few and perhaps that may be one reason you do not like him. 

  Also in another article where books are featured in another paper, you will learn that some things are not always as they appear. The picture below is from: "Go Ahead, Judge This Book By Its Cover: Already the Norm For Film Sets and Commercial Spaces, Fake Books Are Becoming Common Fixtures in Homes, But if You See One, You Might Never Know," Anna Kodé, New York Times, April 28, 2023. About this phenomena I have already written. See, "Books By The Meter."

Real Books and Book Lovers

  As I have complained, university libraries are getting rid of books right and left and even those in the middle. Spaces are needed for lounging for the students and for the children of graduate students. Sometimes, however, some people have difficulty in throwing out the third copy of a book in their home library unless threatened by their partner who they accuse of being a philistine. The following passage is perfect for those who do not have fake books, but real ones and know how difficult it is to toss them:

"F. Scott Fitzgerald declared in an excellent late story that ‘the second half of life is a long process of getting rid of things’. It is certainly what I am striving to do. I have far too much stuff so I’ve decided a little culling is needed. Some weeding out imperative, deaccessions inevitable. I’ve started with books; I’ll end up with people and finish with me.

I kneel on the floor of my book room with a large cardboard box at my side. Do I really need all those George Meredith novels? Edgar Saltus is harder, but will I miss those duplicates of Purple and Fine Women and The Pace That Kills with the variant dust-wrapper and the misprint on page 43? My shelf of the works of Philip Thicknesse, that querulous 18th-century gentleman, contains nearly all of his 24 books, and if I were forced to sell them I could never sacrifice The Valetudinarians Bath Guide, which contains valuable information on the exorcism of gallstones, and an account of Mrs Mary Toft of Godalming who claimed that she gave birth to 15 rabbits; an assertion Thicknesse plausibly supports. Whatever the demands for space in my book room, I cannot banish my Marmaduke Pickthall, or a single one of my 15 copies of the first edition of The Wooing of Jezebel Pettyfer, which Meredith praised with the mysterious disclaimer: ‘It ought never to have been written.’ Not seldom, when I surrender a book to a rascally dealer, I return to his shop and buy it back."

(That bit is dedicated to my friend on Vancouver Island who has written some books and collected many more. It is from an article in The Spectator, Dec. 17, 2022 by Barry Humphries.)

Post Script:

   As I have noted too many times before, I think it is a mistake for university libraries to sacrifice the stacks for the students. The university libraries where I used to work are doing so. I do have to confess, however, that they had a copy of, Dr. Viper: The Querulous Life of Philip Thicknesse, In my defence, it is in storage, so as to make room for the students, or the toddlers of the graduate students, who will never be aware of its existence. I do also have to confess that although they did not have a copy of The Valetudinarians Bath Guide, it does appear in their catalogue and I (even you) can read it from the comfort of your couch (and right now!)

The Bonus:

   For the few remaining book lovers in London, I will save you time by telling you that I already have out of the library the copy of Dr. Viper. Those of you who are now looking for Purple and Fine Women are on your own, as are those of you who now are asking - "Who the hell is Edgar Saltus?" (But, I do have to be honest and make another confession - there are a couple of biographies of Saltus in the Western Libraries (in storage.) Let's hope they keep them there and do not send them to a storage bin near Toronto.)

W. H. Hudson and the Hail Storm

   We have just had a slight ice storm so I have been inside reading Far Away and Long Ago. In it, there is a description of a devastating hail storm. Hundreds of birds were killed, as were many sheep and even large animals, as well as a child. 

  The passage (provided below) reminded me of a post I did back in May, 2021 (see: Hail Storms.)  From it you will learn that it is predicted that we may begin to experience more, and more damaging, hail storms as a result of climate change. The storm below was witnessed by Hudson as a child, while living on the pampas in Argentina.

It was in sultry summer weather, and towards evening all of us boys

and girls went out for a ramble on the plain, and were about a quarter

of a mile from home when a blackness appeared in the south-west, and

began to cover the sky in that quarter so rapidly that, taking alarm,

we started homewards as fast as we could run. But the stupendous

slaty-black darkness, mixed with yellow clouds of dust, gained on us,

and before we got to the gate the terrified screams of wild birds

reached our ears, and glancing back we saw multitudes of gulls and

plover flying madly before the storm, trying to keep ahead of it. Then

a swarm of big dragon-flies came like a cloud over us, and was gone in

an instant, and just as we reached the gate the first big drops

splashed down in the form of liquid mud. We had hardly got indoors

before the tempest broke in its full fury, a blackness as of night, a

blended uproar of thunder and wind, blinding flashes of lightning, and

torrents of rain. Then as the first thick darkness began to pass away,

we saw that the air was white with falling hailstones of an

extraordinary size and appearance. They were big as fowls' eggs, but

not egg-shaped: they were flat, and about half-an-inch thick, and

being white, looked like little blocks or bricklets made of compressed

snow. The hail continued falling until the earth was white with them,

and in spite of their great size they were driven by the furious wind

into drifts two or three feet deep against the walls of the buildings.

It was evening and growing dark when the storm ended, but the light

next morning revealed the damage we had suffered. Pumpkins, gourds,

and water-melons were cut to pieces, and most of the vegetables,

including the Indian corn, were destroyed. The fruit trees, too, had

suffered greatly. Forty or fifty sheep had been killed outright, and

hundreds more were so much hurt that for days they went limping about

or appeared stupefied from blows on the head. Three of our heifers

were dead, and one horse--an old loved riding-horse with a history,

old Zango--the whole house was in grief at his death! ...

To return to the hailstones. The greatest destruction had fallen on

the wild birds. Before the storm immense numbers of golden plover had

appeared and were in large flocks on the plain. One of our native boys

rode in and offered to get a sackful of plover for the table, and

getting the sack he took me up on his horse behind him. A mile or so

from home we came upon scores of dead plover lying together where they

had been in close flocks, but my companion would not pick up a dead

bird. There were others running about with one wing broken, and these

he went after, leaving me to hold his horse, and catching them would

wring their necks and drop them in the sack. When he had collected two

or three dozen he remounted and we rode back.

Later that morning we heard of one human being, a boy of six, in one

of our poor neighbours' houses, who had lost his life in a curious

way. He was standing in the middle of the room, gazing out at the

falling hail, when a hailstone, cutting through the thatched roof, struck him on the head and killed him instantly.

(From: Far Away and Long Ago, (Eland Books), pp.73-76)

W.H. Hudson & The Western Libraries

The copy of Long Ago and Far Away I am reading is borrowed from the collections in the Western Libraries. Listed below are the books by Hudson found in those libraries in early 2023. There are almost fifty of them and there are some multiple copies of different editions held in various locations and the affiliated libraries. Given that the Western Libraries is getting rid of many books, I thought it worth providing a snapshot of what was a rather rich collection of printed books. I doubt if Hudson was taught about in many courses, but it is fitting that a university library has a surplus of them. Soon, these printed volumes are likely to be scarce on campus, but admittedly the students can read them in electronic form. As well, many of the copies were already in storage so it was unlikely that a curious student would ever have discovered them by browsing.

Hudson, W. H. A Hind in Richmond Park. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. A Hind in Richmond Park. J.M. Dent, 1922. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. A Shepherd's Life : Impressions of the South Wiltshire Downs. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. A Shepherd's Life : Impressions of the South Wiltshire Downs. Methuen, 1926. (Archives)

Hudson, W. H. A Traveller in Little Things. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. A Traveller in Little Things. J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1921. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. A Traveller in Little Things. J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1923. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Adventures among Birds. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Adventures among Birds. E. P. Dutton, 1920. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Adventures among Birds. J.M. Dent, 1951. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Afoot in England. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Afoot in England. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1927. (Huron)

Hudson, W. H. Afoot in England. J.M. Dent & Sons, 1939. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Afoot in England. J.M. Dent & Sons. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Birds and Man. Alfred A. Knopf, 1920. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Birds and Man. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Birds and Man. Duckworth, 1927. (Archives)

Hudson, W. H. Birds in London. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Birds in London. Duckworth, 1928. (Archives)

Hudson, W. H. Birds in Town & Village. AMS Press, 1968.(Storage) 

Hudson, W. H. Birds in Town & Village. J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1919. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Far Away and Long Ago : a Childhood in Argentina. Eland Books, 1982. (Weldon)

Hudson, W. H. Far Away and Long Ago : a History of My Early Life. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Far Away and Long Ago : a History of My Early Life. E. P. Dutton & Co., 1923. (Huron)

Hudson, W. H. Far Away and Long Ago. 1941. (King’s)

Hudson, W. H., et al. Far Away and Long Ago : a History of My Early Life. Printed by G. Kraft Ltda., 1943. (Archives)

Hudson, W. H. Green Mansions : a Romance of the Tropical Forest. 1945 (Huron)

Hudson, W. H. Green Mansions : a Romance of the Tropical Forest. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Green Mansions : a Romance of the Tropical Forest. Modern Library, 1916. (Brescia)

Hudson, W. H. Idle Days in Patagonia. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Idle Days in Patagonia. J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1923. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. La Tierra purpuréa. Ministerio De Instrucción Pública y Previsión Social, 1965. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. Nature in Downland. Longmans, Green, 1906. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. The Book of a Naturalist. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. The Book of a Naturalist. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1924. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. The Land's End : a Naturalist's Impressions in West Cornwall. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. The Purple Land : Being the Narrative of One Richard Lamb's Adventures

in the Banda Orientál in South America, as Told by Himself. Creative Arts Book Co., 1979. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H. The Purple Land : Being the Narrative of One Richard Lamb's Adventures

in the Banda Orientál in South America, as Told by Himself. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1951. (Huron)

Hudson, W. H., and E. Mcknight Kauffer. Green Mansions : a Romance of the Tropical Forest. Random House, 1944. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H., and E. Mcknight Kauffer. Green Mansions : a Romance of the Tropical Forest. Random House, 1945. (Huron)

Hudson, W. H., Green Mansions : a Romance of the Tropical Forest. 1968 (Storage)

Hudson, W. H., and Edward Grey Grey of Fallodon. Dead Man's Plack, An Old Thorn,

& Miscellanea. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H., and Frank E. Beddard. British Birds. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H., and Morley Roberts. A Hind in Richmond Park. E.P. Dutton, 1923. (Storage)

Hudson, W. H.,  A Hind in Richmond Park.1968 (Storage)

Hudson, W. H.,  A Hind in Richmond Park. 1922 (Storage)

Hudson, W. H., and Morley Roberts. Men, Books and Birds. J. Cape, 1928. (Archives)

Hudson, W. H., and R. B. Cunninghame Graham. Birds of La Plata. AMS Press, 1968. (Storage)

H Spenser, Edmund, and William Henry Hudson. Spenser's Faery Queene. Book I. Dent. (Storage)