London, Cicerone Press, 1978, 1st edition. 165 pp, a few photos. Hardcover with dust jacket in like New condition.
This was the first bibliography that was compiled by a competent person who did his due diligence to find and record much of the nitty gritty information about books on mountaineering. Neate lists dates and page counts of first and subsequent editions of many titles. This is most useful with authors such as Smythe. Shipton, Timan, Albert Smith, Brockedon, whose books has reprints, and this helps you to see what you really have in your collection, or what a bookseller has on offer. This first edition lists 949 titles, the later edition in 1986 lists several thousand.
A nice feature of this edition is a Mountain Index that lists the important peaks in each continent, and cross references the titles that were written about each peak.
Another feature is a Subject Index which is really a history of mountain climbing, again with a cross reference to all the books on first ascents and other climbs of moist of the important peaks and ranges of the world.
There are also list of books of fiction on climbing, guidebooks, and periodicals.
This copy is SIGNED by Bill Neate as W.R. Neate.
Neate did not sell copies himself, or appear at climbing events or give talks, so signed copies are uncommon. This might be the only copy we have ever offered.
SIGNED by W.R. Neate.
One of the most useful reference books on mountaineering literature and history.