Anthologies are now Catalogued in a separate chapter.

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GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

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POWELL, John Wesley (1834-1902) Et Al

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Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and its Tributaries, Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871 and 1872, under the Direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

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1875.  Presumed first edition.  Published by Government Printing Office, Washington

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Dark blue cloth boards with leather at outer corners and at joining of boards to spine.  Gilt lettering to spine.  Unmarked and unfoxed.  Some damp staining to endpapers.  Marbled paste downs and page edges.  Beautiful condition, cover scuffed but interior pretty pristine.  80 illustrations plus two large folding sheets:

First:  22" x 19" Profile of the Green River and Colorado River of the West from the crossing of the UPRR (Union Pacific Railroad) to the mouth of the Colorado compared with the profile of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburg to Vicksburg. 

Second:  30" x 22" black and white topographical map of the Green River from the Union Pacific Railroad to the Mouth of the White River, 1873.  Both maps pristine.  Two appendices by famed ornithologist Elliott Coues.  One chapter by Thompson and one appendix by Goode.

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Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States, with a More Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah, with Maps

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1879.  Second edition.  (First edition 1878).  Published by Government Printing Office, Washington

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Brown/Gray cloth boards with nothing on spine or covers.  Unmarked and unfoxed.  Sticker on front pastedown of the Peabody Museum Library of Yale University noting receipt date in 1880, with a "Discarded - Duplicate Copy" stamp.  Certain chapters written by Clarence Dutton, G.K. Gilbert, Thomson, and Drummond.  In a Preface to the Second Edition, Powell notes the first edition was "...exhausted in a few months and without satisfying the demand which the importance of the subject created...".  Three large numbered folding maps in pocket on rear inside cover. 

Map One:  38" x 30.5" - Two-color terrain Map of Utah Territory Representing the Extent of the Irrigable, Timber and Pasture Lands.  Very minor browning to edges, four-inch separation at one crease. Note on legend states info is from geological surveys of George Wheeler, Clarence King and F.V. Hayden. 

Map Two:  30" x 22" - One-color map of The United States Exhibiting the Grants of Land Made by the General Government to Aid in the Construction of Railroads and Wagon Roads.  Minor browning.  Lower half of center vertical crease separated. 

Map Three:  30" x 22" - Four-color map entitled "Rain Chart of the United States Showing by Isohyetal Lines the Distribution of the Mean Annual Precipitation in Rain and Melted Snow (This is a copy of the chart constructed for the Smithsonian Institution in 1868 by Charles A. Schott except that the lines are slightly modified in Texas and New Mexico).  Some separation at creases.

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The second map, showing the grants to the railroads, is extraordinary.  It shows the scale of the railroads' land ownership west of the Mississippi, including territory comprising more than half of Iowa, Minnesota, Arizona and Washington State, and between a quarter and a half of New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska.  The map highlights the importance and omnipotence of the railroads in the West, for good and for bad.  The railroads supported the protection of certain areas, albeit for commercial reasons - they wanted to bring tourists there - but they could be, and were, rapacious (see Henry George (1871)).
 

The Library of Congress describes Lands of the Arid Region as "a pioneering work recognizing the West's unique environmental character, advocating irrigation and conservation efforts in it, and calling for the distribution of Western lands to settlers on a democratic and environmentally realistic basis."  Powell's recommendations were ignored, largely due to lobbying by the railroads, leading ultimately to the tragedy of the Dust Bowl.

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See EC History Chapter 1855-90 for much more on all of the men highlighted.  For further info related to these entries, please see the blog post of 7/17/24.

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[Link to EC History section]

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HOUGH, FRANKLIN B.

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Report on Forestry 

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1878 - First edition.  The report was originally submitted in Dec 1877 to Congress, which authorized printing of 25,000 copies, of which this is one.  Published by Government Printing Office, Washington.

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Original green(?) boards, the cloth so thoroughly tattered, stained, discolored and gouged as to be almost funny.  Gilt lettering almost entirely illegible.  The text block itself is very sound however, with minimal to no foxing and unmarked save two ownership sigs (in the same hand - Caroline Morris and Dayton L. Birchard) on the ffe.  G

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As discussed in the Hough Catalogue entry in the author section (1855-90) and the Dec 2023 blog post on forestry, this report was an important step in the evolution toward a federally managed forestry reserve program.  Hough notes in his introduction to the report:  "But in... naturally well-timbered sections of the country, thoughtful persons have for years been watching the wasting of supplies and the complete exhaustion of one forest region after another with an anxiety natural with those who look forward to the probable conditions that must necessarily exist in another generation, and who feel the responsibilities of the present with regard to the future." (p. 7)  

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[See also Hough's Elements of Forestry (1882), Catalogued under his name]

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[Link to EC History section]

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GARDNER, James T. (1842-1912) [and Frederick Law Olmsted]

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Special Report of the New York State Survey on the Preservation of the Scenery of Niagara Falls 

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1880 - First edition.  Published by Charles Van Benthuysen & Sons, Albany NY

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Original bevel-edged brown cloth boards, crisp gilt lettering to boards and spine.  Brown coated endpapers.  Ownership signature of Harry M. MacDougal on second fe and small sticker of the Essex County Historical Society, Elizabethtown, NY, on the bottom left corner of the inside front cover.  Numerous maps and plates as described below.  In pristine condition, with only the most minor scuffing to boards.  Fine.

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Six folded maps, including two in pocket built into rear board.  Eleven inserted tissue-guarded plates, including (1) a folded "ideal view" of the American rapids after the planned restoration drawn by Francis Lathrop and engraved by Mr. Marsh, (2) "View in the primeval woods, on Goat Island" drawn by Thomas Moran and engraved by Mr. Karst, and (3) nine heliotype prints of photographs by George Barker (one showing the "repulsive scenery" that greets visitors approaching for their first view of the rapids, another showing the "disfigurement" of the Canadian shore).

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The first 44 pages of the volume consist of the special report on Niagara Falls, while the balance of the 96-page volume consists of the fourth annual survey on the triangulation of NYS - the two folded maps in the rear pocket pertain to the latter report.  The meat of the Niagara report consists of a 12-page report from the (six) Commissioners of the New York State Survey summarizing Gardner and Olmsted's reports, followed by a 7-page report by Gardner, followed by a four-page section by Olmsted.  A facsimile of Father Louis Hennepin's description of Niagara Falls, the first recorded by a European, is also included. 

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The Niagara Report concluded that commercial and other private interests around the falls area had already destroyed much of the natural beauty of the area, and that the State of New York (in conjunction with the State of Ontario in Canada) should take over the shores on either side of the area and create a commercial-free zone for proper viewing and appreciation of the falls.  The final paragraph of Gardner's report:

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Whether, then, we consider Niagara in the light of its glorious scenery, swaying the imagination of the world [the falls are referred to elsewhere as the largest in the world and the site best known in America by Europeans] and drawing to its shrine more visitors than any other of nature's works, or whether we regard its associations with American History and the deep lessons that it can teach of earth's changes through working of great natural forces : in either view it is wonderful, it is unparalleled, it is priceless.  Be we find its treasures in the grasp of money-getters, and its sacred groves assailed by the axe of the mill-man or desecrated by the purveyor of public amusements; and are convinced that destruction of the scenery will be swift and certain unless the all-powerful State shall appear as the preserver of Niagara.

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Olmsted adds in his notes that he has been visiting the falls for 45 years (having first gone at age six).  "My attention was first called to the rapidly approaching ruin of its characteristic scenery by Mr. F.E. Church, about ten years ago."  [Presumably the famed landscape artist Frederic E. Church, referenced elsewhere herein].  Olmsted's arguments are centered on the importance of the natural scenery and greenery around the falls as a central element to the enjoyment of the entire visitor experience.  He notes Dr. Joseph Hooker's observation that the area around the falls shows more botanical biodiversity than any comparable place in Europe or America east of the Sierra - an observation he notes has been confirmed by preeminent American botanist Asa Gray [see Darwin for a bit more on Hooker and Gray.]  Olmsted attributes this unique ecosystem to the action of the falls itself - the constant mist, the movement of ice, etc.  Note the engraving after Moran described above, which is a truly beautiful image which reinforces Olmsted's point.

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Following the publication of this seminal report, Grover Cleveland, then Governor of New York in 1883 signed the bill authorizing the "selection, location and appropriation of certain lands in the village of Niagara Falls for a state reservation."  [I like Grover more and more as I work on this site - see his book (1906) as well as W.G. Steel (1890) for more on his actions as President].  The act led to the establishment of the Niagara Reservation in 1885 - Niagara Falls was the first state park established in the U.S.  The Canadians followed by establishing Queen Victoria Park on the other side of the river two years later.

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According to various sources, Olmsted had actually started to lobby for protection of the Niagara Falls area in the 1860s.

 

James Gardner [nee Gardiner - he used both spellings at different times] had previously worked with Olmsted when the latter was chairing the Yosemite Commission in 1865 (see Olmsted's report, Catalogued under his name).  Gardner grew up near Albany, NY but traveled to California in 1863 on horseback with his childhood friend Clarence King.  Gardner went to work for J.W. Whitney (see The Yosemite Guide-Book (1874 under Guidebooks)) at the CA Division of Mines and Geology, where he and King participated in the first scientific survey of the Sierra high country, working with Olmsted.  In 1872, Gardner joined F.V. Hayden in his USGS survey work (see Hayden (1884) in Government Publications), serving with him as chief topographer until 1876.  He then returned to New York to be appointed director of the State Survey, which is where we find him here.  Later in life he worked in the mining industry.

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[Link to EC History section]

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KING, Clarence (1842-1901)

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First Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, to the Hon. Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior

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1880.  First edition.  Published by Government Printing Office, Washington

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No markings.  Very large attractive three-color folded terrain map of the U.S. at end showing the ten divisions of the USGS.  Map with a one-inch tear, otherwise in excellent shape.  Bound (rebound) in unusual half (cheap leather) with marbled boards and matching endpapers.  As the first report, relatively short - some 79 pages.  Includes reports from King, Clarence Dutton, F.V. Hayden, G.K. Gilbert, etc.  VG+ to NF

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Report of the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (for the year ended June 1881)

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1882.  Presumed First edition.  Published by Government Printing Office, Washington

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Large, heavy volume with tan leather boards with lower spine partially perished.  This is Volume 2 of 26 of the Executive Documents of the 1st session of the 47th Congress.  Massive volume of nearly 600 pages plus 62 plates, largely tissue-guarded, and 32 figures, including colored maps, charts, etc.  Lacking folding map listed as being included at rear.  Sections written by Powell, King, Clarence Dutton, F. V. Hayden, and G.K. Gilbert among others.  No markings.

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See EC History Chapter 1855-90 for much more.  For further info related to these entries, please see the blog post of 7/17/24.

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[Link to EC History section]

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DUTTON, Clarence

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Tertiary History of the Grand Canon District 

[Photos]

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1882 - First.  Published by Government Printing Office, Washington.  Text volume only, lacks atlas.  Modern binding.

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A USGS monograph considered by many to be perhaps the finest work ever published on the Grand Canyon - an expansion of the report in the USGS report for the year 1881 described above under Clarence King (1882) .  In later red cloth with spine lettered in gilt.  Contains two chromolithographic prints after W.H. Holmes, four heliotype plates after photographs, and 36 other plates including a color double-page map, and views after Holmes, Thomas Moran and H.H. Nichols.  Campbell College library stamp (with space for ref # left blank) on title page and handwritten reference number written in pen on page showing the letter of transmittal of the monograph from Dutton to King, who had taken over from John Wesley Powell as head of the USGS.  Occasional light foxing, NF. 

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Per the introductory Advertisement:  "The Monographs of the [USGS] are printed for the [USGS] alone, and can be distributed by it only through a fair exchange of books needed in its library, or through the sale of those copies over and above the number needed for such exchange.  They are not for gratuitous distribution."  The Advertisement notes this is the first monograph issued, although it is number two in the monograph series.

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See EC History Chapter 1855-90 for much more on Dutton, Holmes, King and etc.  For further info related to this entry, please see the blog post of 7/17/24.

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[Link to EC History section]

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HAYDEN, Ferdinand V. (1829-1887) Et Al

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Twelfth Annual Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories:  A Report of Progress of the Exploration in Wyoming and Idaho for the Year 1878

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1883.  Two volumes.  First edition.  Published by Government Printing Office, Washington

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Two very large, superbly illustrated volumes.  Vol I xvii, 809.  Vol II xxv, 503 pp.  Illustrated with many hundreds of tissue-guarded colored chromo-lithographs (including frontispieces), folding maps, figures, and plates including drawings, woodcut engravings, photos, elevations, fossils images, etc.  Some of the folding maps are quite large.  Missing six folding maps listed in Contents of Vol I as being in an accompanying pocket.  Brown cloth boards, gilt very faded on spines (to illegibility on Vol II), minor bumping to boards, rear hinge on Vol II cracked, scattered faint foxing and occasional creasing.  VG.​

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This was the twelfth and final report of the US Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, which Hayden headed from its establishment in 1867.  The work of the USGGST was originally to survey the then newly-admitted state of Nebraska but eventually grew to encompass all of the American territories adjacent to the Rocky Mountains.  Hayden led the first government-sponsored expedition to Yellowstone, and his resulting 1871 survey report helped convince Congress to withdraw the region from public auction - in 1872, President Grant signed the Act of Dedication that created the first National Park.  "Hayden, while not the only person to have thought of creating a park in the regions, was its first and most enthusiastic advocate."  [Per Wikipedia entry on Yellowstone].

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Vol I encompasses Geology and Paleontology, with reports from C.A. White, M.D., Orestes St. John and Samuel H. Scudder; and reports on Zoology by A.S. Packard, Jr. and R.W. Shufeldt.  Accompanying these reports are about 275 plates, figures, maps, etc., many folding.  The frontispiece is a dramatic colored lithograph, unattributed, of Pike's Peak, with the Garden of the Gods in the foreground.  The Contents of Vol I do not distinguish the types of plates, but I found two other full-colored lithographs, pristine (although the one at p. 205 has separated from the binding), both of the Tetons, and two less-colored full-page engravings, also of the Tetons.  Also included are many two or three-color plates showing very detailed drawings and details of fossils, panoramas, elevations, etc.

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Vol II has ownership initials (possibly J.J.S.A) dated 10/28/83, the year of publication, on the top right corner of the title page.  The entire volume is dedicated to Yellowstone, specifically sections on Geology, by W.H. Holmes (who also did much of the artwork - see Dutton above for more on Holmes); Thermal Springs, by A.C.Peale, M.D. (a lengthy three-part report with appended bibliographies and other resources); and Topography, by Henry Gannett, E.M.  If anything, the illustrations are even more dramatic in Vol II and also number in the hundreds.  First, the full-color chromolithographs are identified as such (as opposed to in Vol I) - there are four including the frontispiece, all views of Yellowstone features.  There are also numerous full-page and double half-page photos and wood-carved engravings, all tissue-guarded.  There are also a number of tipped in maps, mostly folding, some quite large.  All pristine.  The Library of Congress says USGS photographer William H. Jackson's work during this period "quickly becomes the most influential photographic representation of the Western landscape and its natural wonders."  For more on Holmes (who according to his Wikipedia entry helped edit this volume) see Clarence Dutton Tertiary History (1882) in Government Publications, above.

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According to Hayden's transmittal letter to the Secretary opening Vol I, the field work was divided between four groups, the first of which, led by A.D. Wilson, was charged with the primary triangulations of the entire area to be surveyed.  However, Hayden notes that, near Sawtelle's Peak (in Idaho, not far WNW of Yellowstone Park), this division was robbed of all its animals and a portion of its outfit.  While Hayen does not say Native Americans were the perpetrators, it is implied.  "Had it not been for this misfortune at least double the work would have been accomplished.  The Yellowstone Park at this time forms the most extensive unoccupied [by Whites, presumably] area in the West, and, surrounded by great ranges of mountains, becomes a resort for hostile bands of Indians when pursued by the troops."  (p. xiii).

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In addition to his extensive career as an exploratory geologist, Hayden was a trained medical doctor who served as such on the Union side of the Civil War, eventually serving as the Chief Medical Officer of the Army of the Shenandoah.  He has a number of places, geological features, etc. named after him - some of which Native American groups have lobbied to have renamed, per Wikipedia.​

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For further info related to this entry, please see the blog post of 7/17/24.

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[Link to EC History section]

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SARGENT, Charles S. [Sprague] (1841-1927)

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Report on the Forests of North America (exclusive of Mexico) [Photos]

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1884 - First.  Published by the US Department of the Interior, Census Division, by the Government Printing Office, Washington DC.  

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Rebound in green cloth with new end sheets.  Light spotting on front board.  Internally clean.  Contains 38 full or double-page maps colored using greens and pinkish hues.  Lacks separate portfolio of 16 additional maps shown in Table of Contents.  VG

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Sargent was appointed the first director of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum in 1872 at the age of 31, a position he held until his death 55 years later.  Per Wikipedia, he was probably suggested for the position by Harvard prof Francis Parkman, his neighbor.  At the arboretum, he worked with Frederick Law Olmsted on Olmsted's designs.

 

Sargent was an important figure in the history of forest conservation in the US.  He served as Chair of the important National Forest Commission (1896-7) with Gifford Pinchot and William H. Brewer, among others.  [The Commission disagreed on a lot but did agree on the need to establish the Mt. Ranier and Grand Canyon NPs - the latter took a while.]  Anyway, Sargent clashed with Pinchot - Sargent advocated for preserving forests in a state of wilderness, while Pinchot advocated for sustainable harvesting practices.  John Muir traveled with the Commission for several weeks - Sargent is said to have encouraged Muir's alleged break with Pinchot, discussed in the Muir chapter of the EC History section.  At the end of the day, as a result of the Commission's findings, President Grover Cleveland proclaimed 13 new forest reserves in the West, known thereafter as the "Washington's Birthday Reserves."

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Sargent and Muir became close friends and traveled extensively together.  Muir dedicated his book Our National Parks (1901) to Sargent:  "To Charles Sprague Sargent/Steadfast Lover and Defender of our Country's Forests this Little Book is Dedicated."  

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From npshistory.com:  

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In early 1889, Charles S. Sargent...wrote an editorial for his magazine that took to heart [Franklin] Hough's 1882 recommendation to not permit the sale or grant of Government timberland.  Sargent proposed three things: The temporary withdrawal of all public forest lands from sale or homesteading; use of the U.S. Army to protect these lands and forests; and Presidential appointment of a commission to report to Congress on a plan of administration and control of forested areas.  As Gifford Pinchot pointed out, "the first suggestion was politically impossible, the second practically unworkable, but the third, in the end (some 7 years later), put Government forestry on the map."

 

Sargent was also a key driver of the historic creation of the Adirondack and Catskill Mountain preserves in New York State in 1885.  Per the website of the NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation:

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In 1884, continuing impoverishment of the Adirondack's resources for private gain led the Legislature to appoint a four-member Commission, often referred to as the Sargent Commission, headed by...Charles Sprague Sargent. The Legislature authorized the Sargent Commission to investigate the need for forest preservation in New York State. They submitted a list of recommendations in January 1885 which recommended preserving and protecting state wild lands in the Adirondacks and the creation of a state forestry agency. At the time, no such agencies existed....

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Largely following the Commission's recommendation, and... adding the Catskills to the legislation, Governor David B. Hill signed the law, on May 15, 1885, creating the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves. The law required that all state lands in eleven Adirondack and three Catskill counties "be forever kept as wild forest lands." This law also authorized the creation of a new Forest Commission to administer the law....

 

On May 20, 1892, NYS Governor Roswell P. Flower signed the law creating a 2.8 million-acre Adirondack Park. The 1891 "blue line" was intended to delineate the boundary within which future forest preserve acquisitions should be focused.

 

Representatives at the 1894 Constitutional Convention, and voters in the general election that year, approved the "forever wild" clause, preventing timber cutting on state lands in the forest preserve.

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The law establishing the Catskill Park was signed by Governor Benjamin B. Odell on April 15, 1904.

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Over the years, the state has expanded both the Adirondack and Catskill parks. Today, they encompass more than six million acres, larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Canyon and Great Smoky Mountain national parks combined.

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As a long-time frequent user of both parks, Sargent has my thanks!

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FERNOW, B.E. [Bernard] (1851-1923)

 

Report Upon the Forestry Investigations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 1877-1898

 

1899.  First.  Published by Government Printing Office for USDA.

 

Full calf boards somewhat scuffed/rubbed.  Backstrip beginning to perish, not affecting binding.  Both covers beginning to separate but still intact.  Some foxing to edges of text block.  Ownership sig (illegible) on title page.  Text block itself is sound.  G

 

Bernhard Fernow was among the three visionaries who, along with Franklin Hough and Gifford Pinchot, developed the National Forest system and the US Forest Service.  Fernow was a German who was trained in forestry in his home country before emigrating to the US in 1876, becoming the first professionally trained forester in the country.  He became head of the USDA’s Forestry Division in 1886, serving in that position until 1898.  His work, including this report, was critical to the passage of the 1891 Forest Reserve Act and the 1897 Organic Act.  

 

Per the Forest Service history linked to the Forestry blog post on this website from Dec 2023:  “As Chief…he brought professionalism to it.  He set up scientific research programs and initiated cooperative forestry projects with the States…. On June 30, 1886, the Division was given permanent status as part of the [USDA].  This provided needed stability for the fledgling organization.”

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In 1898 Fernow left the Forest Service, but finished and filed this report after leaving.  Thereafter, he dedicated himself to helping build the system of systematic forestry education in North America.  He started Cornell’s forestry school, the first four-year forestry school in the country.  He later became Dean of the forestry program at the Univ of Toronto, the first in Canada.

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In the report, Fernow notes that while the Forestry Division's initial reports were met with "only ridicule and opprobrium," but now receive only "respectful hearing and full appreciation and praise."  He adds:  "Certain it is that so far the Division has not been properly considered and endowed, and its usefulness has been impaired by insufficient appropriations.... The time has come when...it should have charge of the public timber lands, and especially the public forest reservations, which will never answer their purpose until controlled by systematic management, such as all other civilized nations apply to their forest property." (p. 5)

 

In the same year of publication, Fernow was a member of the 1899 Harriman Expedition.  In 1902 he founded the Journal of Forestry, serving as editor until his death in 1923 - the Journal continues today as the official publication of the Society of American Foresters.

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Select List of References on the Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States [Bibliography]

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Compiled under the direction of Hermann H.B. Meyer, Chief Bibliographer of the Library of Congress

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1912.  First edition.  Published by the Government Printing Office, Washington, for the Library of Congress

 

Paper covers.  110 pages including indices.  Partially legible stamp on title page indicating it was at one time deposited with an institution in the Philippines.  Otherwise clean and unmarked.  Priced 15 cents.

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Lists 600 publications across a range of subjects (Minerals, Forests, etc.).  In his Preface, Meyer recommends Van Hise's Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States (1910), represented in the Collection, as a comprehensive treatment of the subject.

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Conserving our Wild Animals and Birds [Pamphlet]

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By Edward A. Goldman, Assistant Biologist in charge of Biological Investigations, Bureau of Biological Survey, Dept. of Agriculture

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1921.  First offprint of essay from the 1920 Yearbook of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

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Paper covered pamphlet of 16 pages, stapled on left side.  Opens:  "The conservation of wild animals and birds is not a mere fad indulged in by those who have only a sentimental interest in the subject.  It has a much greater importance, due to values difficult to measure but none the less real."  Goldman was a prominent mammologist who also was a strong advocate for extermination of predator species like coyotes and wolves.  Handwritten on upper left corner is the word "free," otherwise VG+

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Community Bird Refuges [Pamphlet]

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By W.L. McAtee (Waldo Lee - 1883-1962), Assistant in charge, Food Habits Research, Bureau of Biological Survey, Dept. of Agriculture

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1923 revision of U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers' Bulletin No. 1239

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Paper covered pamphlet of 16 pages, stapled on left side.  Argues that "an effort should be made to attract and protect birds and to increase their numbers" for "economic as well as for esthetic reasons."  McAtee was a prominent ecologist and ornithologist who spent over 40 years with the Bureau of Biological Survey and its successor, the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  He was instrumental in the creation of The Wildlife Society and authored over 1,000 papers.  Handwritten on upper left corner is the word "free", otherwise VG+

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William McAtee was later one of the unnamed advisors to Rosalie Edge and the Emergency Conservation Committee in the drive to reform the National Audubon Society and protect and expand national wildlife refuges and NPs.

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[See also Isabelle Story's 32-page NPS booklet The National Parks and Emergency Conservation (1933), which is Catalogued under Story's name in the general book section].

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GUIDEBOOKS

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Yosemite, as the first park protected by the US federal government (originally by giving it to California to protect, then later creating the National Park), and Yellowstone, as the first actual National Park (1872), each have a special and important place in the history of environmental conservation in this country.  The only discreet areas of remotely comparable importance in the history of the movement are perhaps the Adirondacks, Niagra Falls, the Everglades, Dinosaur National Monument and Central Park.

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There are many other guidebooks, field guides, etc. in the Collection listed elsewhere by attribution to the author, including William H.H. Murray's Adirondack guide (1869), Enos Mills' guidebooks to the Rockies (1905 and 1924) and the National Parks (1917), John Muir's book on the National Parks (1901 and 1909), Florence Merriam Bailey's Birds of New Mexico, Roger Tory Petersen's bird books, Hutching's books on Yosemite, Eastwood's guide to California trees (1905), and Comstock's nature education guide (1910), as a few examples.

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MILLER, James (d. 1873)

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Miller's New Guide to the Hudson River

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1866.  First edition.  Published by James Miller, New York

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Pocket-sized.  Green cloth boards with crisp embossed title on cover.  Owner's sig on first free endpaper, otherwise unmarked and unfoxed.  Beautiful three-color folded strip map, about two feet long in excellent condition.  Some early pages detached, otherwise tight.

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Miller, about whom I was able to find no information, published a number of guides to the New York area, including one of Central Park.  This is a guide to what one would experience on a boat trip to Albany.  The book begins with a fascinating description of the trip from Central Park up to Washington Heights from whence one boards the boat.  After waxing rhapsodically about the German neighborhood just north of the park, he includes this gem on p. 10:  "Here one sees the Germans at their best, and easily understands the reason of their superiority to the Irish, whose noisy, drunken, quarrelsome assemblies, with their utter absence of any intellectual or even sensible amusements, are a nuisance to any neighborhood they infest."  As a person of Irish-German ancestry...I resemble that remark!

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KNEELAND, Samuel (Professor) - (1821-1888)

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The Wonders of the Yosemite Valley and of California

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1871.  First edition.  Published by Alexander Moore, Boston.

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Illustrated with 10 mounted original albumen photographs by John P. Soule.  Tissue guards.  Original red cloth with front cover and spine decorated in black and gilt, rear cover with same design in blind.  All edges gilt.  Rebacked with original spine cloth laid down.  Per auctioneer PBA Galleries' catalogue listing:  "'Kneeland took pains to get reliable information and present it with more than ordinary care.  The photographic illustrations are excellent and include some unusual views' - Farquhar.  Currey & Kruska note that Kneeland….'produced one of the better early guide books to the Yosemite Valley….'  Cowan p.333;  Currey & Kruska 225;  Farquhar 10a."  Slight lean to spine, rubbing with some fraying at corners, light foxing.  Some surface wear to photos.  VG

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Kneeland was an accomplished man, a zoology professor at MIT, and a practicing physician.  He served with General Burnside during the Civil War, becoming head of University Hospital in New Orleans and the general hospitals of Mobile, AL, mustering out in 1866 as a lieutenant-colonel.  He joined the faculty of MIT at its foundation in 1865, becoming founding co-head of what would become the University's pre-med program in 1871.  He traveled widely, making collecting expeditions to Brazil, the Lake Superior copper region, Iceland, Hawaii and the Philippines.  Per prabook:  "Kneeland's fame rested mainly on his writings.  He contributed largely to medical literature and was the author of many articles, mostly on zoological and medical subjects."  (https://prabook.com/web/samuel.kneeland/1907757).

​

​

The Yosemite Guide-Book: A Description of the Yosemite Valley and the Adjacent Region of the Sierra Nevada, and of the Big Trees of California [Photos]

​

1874 - Second pocket edition.  Published by Order of the [CA State] Legislature by the Geological Survey of California 

 

J.D. Whitney [of Mt. Whitney] was State Geologist at the time and wrote the brief Prefatory Note, noting three prior editions were published, one quarto with photos, one octavo illustrated with woodcuts and one pocket guide.  This edition incorporates "additional information procured in 1873" along with new maps, one of Hetch-Hetchy and one of the Sierra Range around Yosemite.  Four maps in total, including a frontispiece colored folding map of routes to the Valley from San Francisco (prepared for the first pocket ed.), dated 1872; a folding black and white map of the Valley dated 1874 at pg. 84; a single-page sketch map of Hetch-Hetchy, which has caused some offsetting to text opposite, at pg 153, and a larger black and white folding map of the Sierra Range around Yosemite, dated 1863-67, contained in a pocket built into the rear cover.  All maps pristine save the last, which has small tears at a couple of creases and some age-related discoloration on the reverse side, not affecting the map itself.  Brown cloth boards with black and gilt stamped lettering and design to cover and spine.  All text block edges gilded.  Some minor separation beginning.  Owner's sig of Lillian(?) M. Davis dated June 11, 1881, on ffe.  VG.

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​

Official Guide to the Yellowstone National Park:  Edition 1886-7: A Manual for Tourists, Being a Description of the Mammoth Hot Springs, the Geyser Basins, the Cataracts, the Canons, and Other Features of the New Wonderland with Twenty-one Illustrations, a Plan of the Upper Geyser Basin and Route Maps; also an Appendix, containing Railroad Rates as well as other Miscellaneous Information [Photos]

​

Revised By HYDE, John (1848-1929)

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1886.  First edition.  Published by Riley Bros., St. Paul, Minn.

​

On the spine is printed "Route of the Northern Pacific Railroad" and there is an appendix containing railroad travel info, but there is no other indication if this was published in conjunction with The NP or not.  Numerous wood engravings, many full-page, from sketches by A. von Schilling and photos by F. Jay Haynes.  Folding 5"x7" color map by Poole Bros. tipped in at rear fe.  Rubber stamps of the Athenian Club (Oakland) on ffe, rear fe and table of contents page.  Per auctioneer from whom I purchased this:  "First publication of this guide for 1886-1887; there were two rival publications for the 1886-1887 guide, but neither published until 1887.  There are no copies of this 1886 guide listed in OCLC, except for "internet resources."  Moderate rubbing and soiling to covers.  Unmarked and unfoxed.  VG.

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John Hyde was a U.K. born geographer and statistician.

​

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MULLALY, John (1835-1915)

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New Parks beyond the Harlem with Thirty Illustrations and Map; Descriptions of Scenery; Nearly 4000 Acres of Free Playground for the People; Abundant space for a Parade Ground, a Rifle Range, Base Ball, Lacrosse, Polo, Tennis and all athletic games; picnic and excursion parties, and nine miles of waterfront for bathing, fishing, yachting and rowing

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1887 - Presumed first edition.  Published by the Record and Guide.

​

Dark maroon blind stamped cloth boards.  Gilt title on front cover very faded.  No markings.  Some separation of early pages and rear spine.  Publisher Record and Guide was a real estate and business-oriented weekly founded in 1868.  30 full-paged engraved illustrations.  Lacks folding map.  Eight full page ads by real estate firms in rear.  G

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In three sentences:  John Mullaly after the Civil War got involved in NYC government - due to his connections with the Tweed Ring and Tammany Hall - and as such was involved in the annexation of property in the Bronx, where he was undisputedly the primary driver in creating a number of parks and parkways there, including Van Cortland, Claremont, Crotona, Bronx, St. Mary's and Pelham Bay Parks, and the Mosholu, Pelham and Crotona Parkways.  This book predates the actual establishment of the parks but describes in great detail the process in getting them approved - including overcoming substantial litigation - and the actual sites upon which they were to be established.  They are really nice parks.

​

In more than three sentences:  Mullaly was an Irish immigrant who became a journalist and ultimately edited the Metropolitan Record, published by the Catholic Church in NYC.  He was an unabashed racist who, as editor of the Metropolitan Record, called for armed resistance to the military draft during the Civil War - he was ultimately arrested for inciting resistance to the draft, but the case was discharged after a hearing.  He declared the war to be "wicked, cruel and unnecessary, and carried on solely to benefit the negroes," and advised resistance to conscription.  

​

In July 1863, the New York City Draft Riots resulted in the death of over 100 people, mostly black, beaten or lynched.  It was in the aftermath of those riots, the worst civil unrest in America during the entire 19th century, that Mullaly was arrested.  The trigger for the draft riots was in part the Emancipation Proclamation, which Mullaly in the Metropolitan Record termed "vile and infamous" and which would bring "massacre and rapine and outrage into the homes of Southern plantations.... Never was a blacker crime sought to be committed against nature, against humanity, against the holy precepts of Christianity."

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For many moons, there was a small park in the south Bronx named Mullaly Park.  On 6/16/21, the NYC Parks Department announced that the park would be renamed to honor Reverend Wendell T. Foster, the first Black person elected to office from the Bronx, who was a long-time champion of the park and the neighborhood around it.

​

Madison Grant is still my choice for the nastiest piece of work represented in the Collection.  But Mullaly is surely worthy of dishonorable mention.

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STODDARD, S.R. [Seneca Ray] (1820-1895)

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The Adirondacks: Illustrated

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1893 - Twenty-fourth edition.  Self-published from Glens Falls, NY.

​

Pocket-sized edition.  Dark red paper covers lightly stained and creased but overall sound.  Unmarked.  Text block clean and bright.  Substantially illustrated with woodblock engravings and line drawings.  Many pages of ads for Adirondack businesses at rear.  VG

​

Per the website courses.hamilton.edu/stoddard/the-adirondacks-illustrated, this was by far the most popular guidebook of the region, first published in 1873.  Starting in 1891 Stoddard added a "greeting" that "focused particularly on the protection of the Adirondack Park from an environmentalist's point of view."  "The question of the hour in Adirondack matters is the preservation of the forests; of great value as a whole - of vital importance as regards the tributaries of the Hudson River.  The gradual shrinkage in the water supply of this river...are warnings that should not be ignored.... The forest covering of this entire region is threatened with destruction.  It should be under control of the State.  A law should be enacted prohibiting the cutting of evergreen trees on all Adirondack lands lying 1,800 feet above tide...."  [Emphasis from original text].

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Stoddard is best known as a landscape photographer, in addition to his guidebook.  (At an art display at the Adirondack Experience Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, NY, I came across a very creditable landscape painting by Stoddard of the Schroon River.)

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BALLOU, Maturin M. (1820-1895)

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Ballou's Alaska:  The New Eldorado:  A Summer Journey to Alaska

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1894.  Tourist Edition with Maps.  (Originally published 1880 or 1889).  Published by Houghton Mifflin.  With Henry Fairfield Osborn's ownership sig and address on fpd, along with a handwritten poem. 

​

Pocket-sized.  Red boards with crisp embossed title on cover, but spine faded to illegibility.  In rear, Henry Fairfield Osborn has written a 17-line poem, but his handwriting is so bad it is hard to decipher so impossible to tell if it is original.  Several two-color maps, one folding.  Spine beginning to separate.  G

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Ballou was a prolific author, traveler and prominent Boston publisher, founder and publisher of various periodicals and first editor of the Boston Daily Globe.

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​

The Complete Campers Manual:  How to Camp Out/What to Do

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By Buzzacott, Francis H.

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1903 - Cloth covered booklet about 5x7".  Published by the M. Abbott Frazar Co. of Bangor, ME. 

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Cover edges and joints chipped but sound.  Interior sound.  118 pages plus one-page ad.  Covers attractively illustrated, with extensive illustrations within.  Laid in is a newspaper clipping of an article from an "Outdoor Know-How" column on bass fishing.  $0.50 for cloth, $1.00 for leather bound.  G+ to VG-

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Author Francis H. Buzzacott is described as having been a member of 1) British South Africa Expedition, 2) Antarctic Expedition, 3) Voyage to the Arctic, 4) Service of United States Government and 5) Spanish American War Campaign.  His 1913 book on hunting, fishing, trapping and camping was reissued in 2018 as "Buzzacott's Masterpiece" - but that might be hyperbole engaged in by a publisher taking advantage of an expired copyright.

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More interestingly perhaps, Buzzacott published several books on bi-sexuality and hermaphrodism, arguing that humans began as bisexual men, devolved to the inferior, separate genders of today, and that bisexual men represent a return to the ideal.  Which is an an interesting theory to be propounding in 1911.

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Yosemite

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1909.  Booklet of semi-coated paper.  Published by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

 

12-page, 9x8" booklet, folding vertically as issued to 9x4".  Color pictorial self-wrappers designed by Landon Smith.  Well-illustrated guide to the park, with 23 photographic illustrations and background decorations from drawings.  Lists activities, lodgings, rates, elevations, etc.  Three maps, showing the Santa Fe System in the U.S., from the Bay Area south and east, and the Park.  Directions for how to get to Yosemite via the RR.  Per PBA Galleries' auction catalogue (sale 5/18/2023), rare item with OCLC listing three other copies, one each at the Universities of Missouri, Texas and Wyoming.  Some light rubbing along the folds.  Overall VG to VG+.

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Langdon Smith (1870-1959) was born in MA but grew up in CA and became a "highly sought illustrator, earning strong commercial success for his western genre works."  (Per brief bio on the Fine Art Dealers Association website).

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Doing Yosemite:  A Descriptive Guide of the Trails - Roads - Paths of the Yosemite Valley.  Giving Distances, Elevations and Information Regarding the Yosemite.

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Circa 1917-18.  Undated plain paper booklet.  "Published at 'TOURIST' Office", Yosemite NP, Ca.  Priced at 10 cents.

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16-page, 6x4.5" booklet of plain paper, with slightly heavier paper wrappers, one staple to create binding.  No illustrations, just text.  Per intro, "published in a condensed form to cover the Yosemite Valley only, not the park as a whole."  PBA Galleries' auction catalogue (sale dated 5/18/2023) estimated the publication date as 1900-1910.  However, there is a reference in the section on driving into the park about passing the "new power plant," which was built around 1917-18.  VG

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Palisades Interstate Park

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1921.  Booklet with heavy paper covers.  Published by the American Geographical Society of New York.  

 

45 pages plus extra for notes.  Small print, maps and many wood-carved illustrations incorporated.  Describes the park, including geology, history and fauna.  Details means of access, walks of various lengths, climbs, etc.  Nice piece of work.  The park runs north for eight miles along Hudson River starting in NJ at the George Washington Bridge, ending just over the NY State line, and is a great place to run.  VG++

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REFERENCE BOOKS (Collectible - In order of publication)

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PATTON, J. Harris (1812-1903)

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Natural ​Resources of the United States

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1879.  First edition.  Published by D. Appleton & Co., New York

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115-pgs plus publisher's catalogue (extending to front and rear pastedowns).  Brown boards with crisp cover and spine.  Unmarked.  Written primarily as a primer for student use, but also for general consumption.  Discusses the various natural resources of the country including coal, oil, metals and minerals, springs, agriculture, timber, health resorts(!), climate, fisheries, etc.  Does not have a conservation angle - purely educational, with a view towards exploitation.  Patton was a prolific author, primarily general and targeted histories of the U.S.  VG+

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MUMFORD, Lewis (1895-1990)

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The Brown Decades 1865-1895: A Study of the Arts in America

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1931.  Stated first.  Published by Harcourt, Brace & Co., New York

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Unmarked, very light foxing on earlies pages, in covers that look so new as to have been rebound, but hasn't.  VG+ to NF in VG+ DJ​

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Fantastic book by an important thinker.  I obtained this copy because of its quote about Marsh's Man and Nature as the "fountainhead of the conservation movement."  I figured, since it's quoted several times, I ought to get the book.  I am very glad I did - over 20% of the book is on "The Renewal of the Landscape" with an extensive discussion of the themes explored herein.  See the Concluding section of the 1855-1890 Chapter of the EC History Section for more.

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Mumford was a hugely influential historian, philosopher of technology and critic. 

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[CREATE LINK TO EC HISTORY CHAPTER 1855-90]

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AMERICAN NATURALIST SERIES

 

Published by Devin-Adair

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John Burroughs America (1951).  Edited by Farida Wiley.  VG in VG NPCDJ

Ernest Thompson Seton's America (1954).  Edited by Farida Wiley.  VG in VG NPCDJ

Theodore Roosevelt's America (1955).  Edited by Farida Wiley.  Inscribed by Wiley to acknowledgee Jo Kimball.  VG in VG PCDJ.

John and William Bartram's America (1957).  Edited by Helen Cruickshank.  Inscribed by Cruickshank.  VG in VG NPCDJ

A Naturalist in Alaska (1961).  Written by Adolph Murie.  Inscribed by Murie to John McPhee.  F in F NPCDJ.

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The Devin-Adair American Naturalist series consisted of the five books listed - there appear to have been plans for two more which were apparently never published.  The first four volumes consist of edited writings by the subject, whilst the Murie book is original.

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Farida Wiley (1887-1986) was a legendary self-taught naturalist, educator and guide who worked for the American Museum of Natural History for sixty years.  She was best known for leading early morning bird-watching walks through Central Park, starting in 1940 and continuing into the 1980s.  "Miss Wiley was considered all-knowing about birds, plants, trees and all other wildlife this side of Madagascar."  (NYT obituary 11/18/86 by Wolfgang Saxon).  Although she only had a high school education, she also taught at Pennsylvania State College, the Audubon Camp in Maine and NYU. 

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Helen G. Cruickshank was a prominent ornithologist and nature photographer who won a John Burroughs Medal for a 1948 book.  

 

 

HUTH, Hans (1892-1977)

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Nature and the American:  Three Centuries of Changing Attitudes

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1957.  First edition.  Published by University of California Press, Berkeley.  Inscribed to acknowedgee Horace M. Albright, second director of the National Park Service, in a presentation binding with matching slipcase

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Inscribed:  "To Horace M. Albright, Without your help in every way this book would have never materialized.  Cordially yours, Hans Huth."  The inscription is dated 1958.  In Huth's preface, the first individual acknowledged is Albright:  "To Mr. Horace M. Albright I feel most deeply indebted: over the years he has given me not only encouragement and moral support but also helpful counsel from the wealth of his knowledge, particularly that acquired in the course of his extraordinary activities in all fields of conservation."  In a presentation binding, with marbled boards matching the custom slipcase.  With 64 plates, mostly black and white photos, and other illustrations.  Page edges rough cut.  Leather spine label worn at top.  Otherwise VG+ in a VG slipcase.

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Horace Albright (1890-1987) was the second director of the National Park Service from 1929-1933, taking over from Stephen Mather, for whom Albright had served as a legal assistant when Mather was Assistant Director of the Interior Department in charge of National Parks.  During his career, he also served as superintendent of both Yellowstone and Yosemite and helped acquire land for several new national parks.  He received the Audubon Society's highest honor, the Audubon Medal, in 1969.  In 1980 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, by President James Earl Carter.  [See Albright's history of the founding of the NPS (1985)]. [CREATE LINK]

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Hans Huth was born in Germany and trained and worked there as an art historian but had to flee the country in 1937 to escape Jewish persecution.  He became an advisor to the historic branch of the NPS before joining the Art Institute of Chicago as a curator, where he remained for twenty years.  Nature and the American is a pioneering volume about the history of the environmental conservation movement in the U.S., taking an aesthetic approach appropriate for one with Huth's expertise and profession.

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[Link to EC History section]

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HAYS, Samuel P. (1921-2017)

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The Response to Industrialism:  1885-1914

 

1957.  First.  University of Chicago Press.

 

Discard stamp from Leeds Public Library, with bookplate of City of Leeds Library on fpd and an acquisition slip from its Reference Library, dated 1957, laid in.  Otherwise unmarked.  Part of "The Chicago History of American Civilization" series edited by Boorstin.  VG in VG NPCDJ.

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Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency:  The Progressive Conservation Movement, 1890-1920

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1959.  First.  Harvard Univ Press.  NF to F in VG+ NPCDJ

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Hays was a pioneering environmental, social and political historian who was the first recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Society for Environmental History.  In 1999 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Organization of American Historians.  Hays was a practicing environmentalist as well as an environmental scholar - his 311-acre property in Indiana was donated to Harrison County as a nature preserve, where it is called the Hayswood Nature Reserve.

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NASH, Roderick (1939)

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Wilderness and the American Mind

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1967.  First edition.  Published by Yale University Press, New Haven.  With Shirley Ann Briggs' bookplate on fpd (under dj flap).

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The seminal text of environmental history.  Yellow cloth boards.  VG+ to NF in a G+ NPCDJ with top edges worn.

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This is the most referenced history (by far) of the American environmental conservation movement that I've come across in my reading and research. 

​

A 2011 bio of Nash published in conjunction with his receipt of the American Academy for Park & Recreation Administration's Pugsley Award says that its four editions collectively represent the best-selling publication of the Yale University Press.  Nash is an active outdoors person, with a first river descent to his credit.  This book transcends history - in 1992, a publishing survey ranked it sixth on the list of America's most important environmental books, just below Walden, and four years later it was called "One of Ten Books that Changed the World" by Outside magazine.

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As a teacher at UCSB, Nash introduced in the late 1960's what is believed to be the first environmental history course in the country.  Following the Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 he played a leading role in the response, and subsequently led the faculty committee at UCSB that started a new program in Environmental Studies, where he taught his entire academic career.

(The above info from:  https://web.archive.org/web/20140913131734/http://www.aapra.org/pugsley-bios/roderick-frazier-nash)

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Shirley Ann Briggs (1918-2004) was an American artist, writer and naturalist.  She was a close friend of Rachel Carson, with whom she worked for a time at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Both were involved with the Audubon Society, for whom Brigg's edited its periodical The Wood Thrush.  In 1965 she helped found what is now called the Rachel Carson Council, which she led from 1970-1992.  She wrote several books, papers and articles publicizing the danger of pesticides (see her 1992 book on pesticides [CREATE LINK]).  She helped with Carson on her research for Silent Spring.  She was awarded the Environmental Protection Agency's Rachel Carson Award in 1992.  [Paul Brook's Speaking for Nature in this Collection is inscribed to Briggs].