L. W. Currey, Inc.

(James, George Wharton) LARSON, ROGER KEITH. Controversial James an essay on the life and work of George Wharton James [by] Roger Keith Larson. San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1991. 25.8x20 cm, pp. [1-2] [i-x] xi-xii 1-98 [99] [100: colophon], ten inserted plates with duotone photographs, several other illustrations in the text, title page printed in black and brown, original pictorial maroon cloth, front panel stamped in gold, pale lavender endpapers. First edition. In addition to Winter Sports at Huntington Lake Lodge in the High Sierras: the Story of the First Annual Ice and Snow Carnival of the Commercial Club of Fresno (Pasadena: The Radiant Life Press, 1916), books by James with Sierra Nevada content include A Chautauqua Assembly Under the Pines in Yosemite National Park ... ([San Francisco: Printed by San Francisco News Letter Press], n.d. [1918]); Lake of the Sky: Lake Tahoe (Pasadena: George Wharton James, 1915), see Larson pp. 51-52; California, Romantic and Beautiful (Boston: The Page Company, 1914), includes "The Yosemite Valley, pp. 218-234; there are several issues, including the deluxe "Pasadena Edition, see Larson p. 53; and Our American Wonderlands (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Co., 1915), includes "The Yosemite Valley," pp. 234-240, see Larson, p. 52. On James's literary legacy Larson concludes: "Collectively, James's books have left a sharper and broader image of turn-of-the-century California and the Southwest that the work of any other author of that time. Very little escaped James's personal notice: landscape, history, geography, flora, fauna, climate, transportation, native inhabitants, cities, hotels, cuisine, customs, historical artifacts, industry, agriculture, indigenous literature, art, architecture, culture, and crafts. The time about which he wrote was perhaps the most ideal in the history of California and the Southwest. The geography, climate, beauty, and natural resources of the region had attracted sufficient population to insure most of the comforts and culture of Western civilization without threatening the natural features which stimulated migration ... James was unabashedly in love with California and the West. In choosing subjects for his books, he chose wisely. As long as there is a California, a Grand Canyon, a Lake Tahoe, a Colorado Desert there will be people who will want to read his books. In them they will find those regions lovingly preserved as they were before the assault of millions of people and threatening technology. James's place in the Southwestern literary sun remains secure. That should not be controversial," pp. 71-72. Larson's work includes a useful annotated bibliography of James's books and pamphlets, pp. 89-[99]. A fine copy in paper slipcase without dust jacket as issued. (#166397).