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The Land of Little Rain
by Austin, Mary [Hunter]
- Used
- very good
- first
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
Sebastopol, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1903. First Edition, 2nd Printing. Very Good. E. Boyd Smith, Illustrator. [October] [8.5x6.5in]; Olive green cloth covers with gilt lettering on spine and front, pictorial illustration of vulture, wolf, skeleton and shrubs on front, top edge gilt, others untrimmed; xi [5] 280 [2] pp., pictorial title page and frontispiece illustration with tissue guard, 3 plate illustrations and 73 illustrations in brown ink in text and chapter headings; Shelf wear and rubbing to covers, spine, edges and corners, slightly darken spine, minor fraying of cloth at corners, top and bottom spine and front joint, front and rear hinge cracked, past glue repairs to front end paper, prior owner pencil notes on front fly and colorful children's bookplate on half-title, closed tears at edges to pages 29 and 47. [Volkmann Z80 #2, Graff 114, Howell50 273, Cowan64 p24]. Mary Hunter Austin (1868-1934) was an American writer of the Southwest. This was her first of 35 books and, by many accounts, her best book. The Land of Little Rain is a story of life and nature on the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of Owens Valley, the Inyo Mountains, Mojave Desert, Death Valley and Western Nevada. In Lawrence Clark Powell, California Classics, he writes "There in the county of Inyo she put down roots and absorbed the lore of the Paiute and Shoshone Indians and of the shepherds, ranchers and miners. With her feet on the earth and her head in the sky, she gave voice in singing prose to the soul of a hitherto unsung land." The illustrative drawings of E. Boyd Smith added a depth to the writing that brought the words and images to life. A newspaper critic at the time stated "What John Muir has done for the western slopes of the Sierras... Mrs. Austin does in a more tender and intimate fashion for the eastern slopes.".
Synopsis
A stunning tribute to the savage beauty of the area known as Death Valley. To most travelers it is a parched, empty territory, unwelcoming and forgiving. In a collection of essays that date back almost a century, naturalist and writer Mary Austin (1868-1934) breathes life into the desert landscape, describing its savage beauty, its plants and animals, and the occasional human visitor.
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Details
- Bookseller
- David Spilman Fine Books, ABAA & IOBA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 13142
- Title
- The Land of Little Rain
- Author
- Austin, Mary [Hunter]
- Illustrator
- E. Boyd Smith, Illustrator
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition, 2nd Printing
- Publisher
- Houghton, Mifflin and Company
- Place of Publication
- Boston
- Date Published
- 1903
- Keywords
- Eastern Sierra Nevada, California
- Bookseller catalogs
- Adventure;
Terms of Sale
David Spilman Fine Books, ABAA & IOBA
All items offered online or in catalogues are subject to prior sale. Trade discount for most items is available and may be limited for consignment items. We will also accept checks that are cleared prior to shipping or invoice clients known to us. 30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives or damaged or not as described. Buyer will be responsible for return shipping, unless item is not as described
About the Seller
David Spilman Fine Books, ABAA & IOBA
Biblio member since 2018
Sebastopol, California
About David Spilman Fine Books, ABAA & IOBA
David Spilman Fine Books, ABAA & IOBA is an online bookseller specializing in fine books, maps, publications, and ephemera related to Exploration, Adventure and World History with a focus on the Polar Regions, California and the American West. A particular interest is in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration from 1895 to 1920's. Other areas of interest are in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and a little bit of this and that.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Hinge
- The portion of the book closest to the spine that allows the book to be opened and closed.
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
- Cracked
- In reference to a hinge or a book's binding, means that the glue which holds the opposing leaves has allowed them to separate,...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Top Edge Gilt
- Top edge gilt refers to the practice of applying gold or a gold-like finish to the top of the text block (the edges the pages...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Plate
- Full page illustration or photograph. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e.,...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
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