London, Dobson, 1950, 1st UK edition. 164 pp, 12 b/w illustrations. Hardcover with dust jacket. Jacket may some foxing and/or a darkened spine. Near Fine to Fine condition overall.
Mountains and their effect on the thoughts and writings of Dante, Petrarch, Goethe, Leslie Stephen, De Saussure, Keats, Wordsworth, Ruskin, Nietzsche, etc.
'Dante, Petrarch, Goethe, Leslie Stephen, De Saussure, Keats, Wordsworth, Ruskin, Nietzsche, Pope Pius XI, Robert Falcon Scott. The twelve personalities dealt with in this book seem at first glance to be chosen for their contrast but when the reader looks closer, he will find a strong thread running through them: their interpretations of mountains in their works.
With some of the figures, with Dante and Rousseau, Keats and Nietzsche, the idea of a link with the mountain may come as a surprise. Others, such as De Saussure, Leslie Stephen and the late Pope Pius XI are well known for their contribution to mountain literature. What this book shows is that mountains formed an essential part of the philosophy of all these writers.'
