Mystery, Beauty, and Danger Literature of the Mountains and Mountain Climbing Written Prior to 1945

One of America's best-known mountaineers, famed for his pioneering climbs in Alaska and the Himalayas, Robert Bates was also an English teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy. Published half a century after it was written, his book is still the only one of its kind, analyzing a wealth of mountain literature from poets Auden and Arnold to accounts by climbers Whymper and Younghusband. Bates reviews more than 280 books, many of them now out of print, using quotes and excerpts to show how perceptions of mountains have changed over the centuries. Selected drawings and photographs from many of the early books illustrate the work. Most early writers saw the mountains as fearful places, situated by the devil for man's punishment; "horrid mountains" were the words John Evelyn used of the Alps. Poets Keats, Wordsworth, and Shelley wrote less fearfully, but their vantage point was that of the valleys and passes, not the high and rugged slopes. By the late 18th century, as climbers began to attempt the peaks, we hear still, not of their kindred feeling for the mountains, but of the terrors and dangers they encountered. It would take the cumulative experience of many climbers, explorers, and scientists to produce literature reflecting the majesty of the mountains themselves.Bates, Robert H. is the author of 'Mystery, Beauty, and Danger Literature of the Mountains and Mountain Climbing Written Prior to 1945' with ISBN 9780914339915 and ISBN 0914339915.