Lanman, Charles. Letters from the Alleghany Mountains. New-York: Geo. P. Putnam, 1849. First Edition. [12013]
Dark green publisher's cloth, front board with white ink or paint stain at bottom (see pics), edges worn with small spot of frayed cloth at top of spine, gilt spine title is bright, 7 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches. 198 pp., 31 pp. publisher's catalogue dated July, 1849. Foxing throughout, a few short marginal tears, a bit shaken. Fair. Hardcover.
Howes L88. Howes indicates an 1848 printing, with the 1849 having the same imprint & collation. Our 1849 copy has 1849 on both the title page and the copyright page. We find an online bibliography stating 1849 as the first edition, and WorldCat indicates that at least some letters were printed individually in periodicals in 1848.
Descriptive letters of travel in the Alleghany Mountains, send from such places as Dahlonega, Georgia, and Ashville, North Carolina. The letters bear dates from April to June, 1848.
Chapters include Valley of the Nacoochgee, The Falls of Tallulah, Down the Owassa, Notes on the Little Tennessee, The Smoky Mountain, The Cherokees of Carolina, Cherokee Customs, Cherokee Characters, Hickory Nut Gap, The Catawba Country, The Mountains and their People, and The Valley of Virginia.
Charles Lanman (1819-1895), b. Monroe, Michigan; d. Georgetown, DC. He was a newspaperman in Michigan, Ohio, and New York City, before studying art with the Hudson River School artists from 1835 to 1845. Lanman was at different times librarian for the US War Department, the US Interior Department, and for the US House of Representatives, and for the city of Washington, DC. He was also the private secretary to Daniel Webster from 1850 to 1853. Lanman collected biographies of members of Congress and his collection eventually became the Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress.
