The Book of Mountains. Edited by A.C. Spectorsky in 1955. This book carries you all over the earth, through the Himalayan ranges, and mountains of Wild Wales; across the Andes, and the Pyrenees; to the High Sierras, the glaciers of the Alps, to reveal the mountain world. The lure of great heights; the peaceful solitude and majesty of towering ranges; the blinding fury of mountain storms-all are reflected in these selections which have been culled from the earliest written records down to the present. This collection is divided into six parts: Men Climb the Mountains (vivid description of dangerous climbs and hair-breath escapes, from Dompjulian de Beaupre's first detailed accounts of the ascent of Mount Aiguille in 1492); Men Live and Work on the Mountains (about hay-making in the Alps; the oil workers of Bolivia; the pioneers of the Ozarks, etc); Men Against the Mountains (man's everlasting struggle is demonstrated in suspenseful narratives of avalanches, of starvation, of crevasses and volcanoes from Pliny's report of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius to Belmore Brown's story of Mount Everest); Men Study the Mountains (excellent scientific studies about structure and vegetation, the winds, storms, snows, ice and clouds); Men Fight in the Mountains (memorable accounts from Hannibal's Alpine crossing to the grim story of a guerrilla battle in the Pyrenees); Men Wonder at the Mystery of the Mountains (the enthralling stillness and solitude that has enticed men to scale their slopes and explore their vastness and wonder at their majesty.
With 64 pages of illustrations: 32 pages of halftones and 32 pages of striking photographs in gravure. With many rare line-drawings throughout the text.492 pages. Book in very good condition. Minor wear on cover corners.A large heavy book with great reading.
