Tales Of The Mountain Men

BARBOUR, BARTON H. [COMPILED & EDITED BY].

Publication: The Press of The Palace of The Governors, 1984, Santa Fe

First Edition. Copy #2 of 5 copies issued in sheets for special bindings and signed by Barton H. Barbour, David J. Weber, Pamela S. Smith, Priscilla A. Spitler, and Andrew Burns. These handbound editions are limited to a total of 170 copies; 150 copies in Centennial book cloth, 15 in special half-leather volumes in Harmatan goatskin with Marblesmith papers, and 5 copies issued in sheets for special bindings. Full Leather, Raised Bands, Blue Endpapers, (8), 77(1)pp., Introduction, Illustrations, Notes to Introduction, Glossary, Bibliography, Biographical Notes, Acknowledgements. Introduction by David J. Weber. Illustrations by Andrew Burns. The era of the mountain man was brief. It began in the 1820's, when the pursuit of beaver pelts, the mainstay of the fur trade, drew Americans into the Rockies for the first time. It ended in the early 1840's, when stovepipe hats, made from beaver fur, fell from fashion and took the price of beaver fur tumbling down with them. Although the day of the mountain man had ended, it lived on in literature. Tales told around campfires found their way onto the printed page, recorded by spellbound listeners such as seventeen-year-old Lewis Garrard, or by the trappers themselves such as Kit Carson, James Ohio Pattie, and others. This short book brings together some of the finest stories by and about mountain men. Fine, bright handsome copy.