A Time Of Gifts

This past summer Patrick Leigh Fermor died at the age of 96, an event that not too distantly followed the reprinting of two of his most well regarded books by New York Review Books (an imprint of the periodical whose goal is to reprint lesser known important titles). His passing has rekindled significant interest, especially in the States, of a writer who remained obscure outside the non-fiction genre of travel writing despite the fact he was considered by many as the greatest living travel writer before his death. A Time Of Gifts appears on almost every most respectable top 10 list of travel books and like most contemporary readers I had never heard of it but swept up in the copious coverage of Fermor’s passing, such as Christopher Hitchen’s eulogy, http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/06/16/christopher-hitchens-farewell-to-patrick-leigh-fermor-the-last-ideal-hero/ , I was intrigued by the fantastic proposition this book represented. Fermor, in 1933 at the age of 18, walked from Holland to, as he continued to call it, Constantinople resourcing only his wits, the kindness of strangers and a less than meager purse. A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water are lauded as radiant narratives of a now disappeared Europe and inimitable pieces of English prose and from what I can tell thus far walk the walk. Attached are two excerpts. Pages 96 - 99 present a fantastic deconstruction of pre-Baroque ornament in Germany; pages 150 – 155 provide a fascinating glimpse into the (hitherto?) unrecognized peculiarities of the Danube School of painting. Fermor’s language is infectiously rapt.

Traditional Irish slip jig

This rare footage features two of the most well regarded Irish traditional dancers of the day. Their mastery of craft is displayed in perfect unison of footwork; hard to suppress a smile for their achievement. Not to be ignored is the quiet reverence of  the small audience. No one texting, not a cell phone in sight - Amen!

(click post title to launch YouTube)

The American Seasons continued

... as promised

Originally published Dodd Mead 1956

Originally published Dodd Mead 1960

Originally published Dodd Mead 1965 and winner of the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction

Spines

Back covers were uniform

                                                                             

North With the Spring

Apollo edition North With the Spring

For those interested in North American nature studies Edwin Way Teale is an inevitable force to contend with. (Click on post title to link to Wikipedia entry.) He came to my attention via the reference to his Strange Lives of Familiar Insects in Dillard's Pilgrim At Tinker Creek. Teale has a formidable bibliography to his credit that includes a four volume work, beginning with North With the Spring (1951), that represents the notable accomplishment of crossing the country's cardinal directions over four seasons. In this book and through Autumn Across America (1956), Journey Into Summer (1960) and Wandering Through Winter (1965) he documents an encyclopedia's worth of information about flora, fauna, weather, human impact, etc. with his nascent ecological sensibilities.

These works, which have come to be known as The American Seasons, appeal to me for their contributions to ecological science, their literary merits - down to earth reporting and just plain good stories if you like things like eagle's nests and the world's deepest spring, a couple hundred foot hole in the ground that turns into a river at your feet - but also because the undertaking involved a many, many thousands of miles road trip around the land. Sure beats hawking widgets or trying to assuage clients whose life savings is down the drain. Doesn't it?

In the mid-1960's Apollo Editions published trade paperbacks of the quartet with gorgeous illustrated covers that rework a collage motif in four different color schemes. These attractive covers are difficult to locate on the internet. I've only seen them listed individually on book sale sites, usually without images and I've yet to see the the whole group pictured anywhere hence sharing pics of my copies here and in the companion post. 

Cache Lake Country: Life in the North Woods

By John Rowlands, illustrated by Henry Kane; W.W. Norton, 1947. A detailed journal/ manual notable for its passionate advocacy of wilderness living and its many illustrations including technical drawings of equipment, methods, wildlife details, etc. This book is thought to be an imaginarium which, if true, is nonetheless informed of actual experience. 

Cache Lake Country at MIT library  

Author note on Wikipedia