Moore, A.W. [ E.H. Stevens Ed.].

The Alps in 1864 – A Private Journal. Edited by E.H. Stevens.

Volume II (of Two Volumes). Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1939. 13.5 cm x 20.5 cm. XI, 524 pages.18 illustrations and Maps on pastedowns and endpapers of the Saas Grat, Turtmann and Bies Glaciers, the Moming Glacier, the Aletschhorn and the Wetterhorner. Hardcover [publisher’s original grey cloth] with lettering on spine. Small vignette on front board. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Ink stains to top edge. Interior bright and clean. Ex-libris stamps near front. [Blackwell’s Mountaineering Library]

Includes, for example, the following: The Col D’hérens / The Rimpfischhorn / The Biesjoch / The Eiger / The Wetterhorn / Mont Blanc from the Brenva Glacier / The Grandes Jorasses etc.

The personal diary of the climber’s experiences in the Alps.
Here mountains provide the stage upon which the climbers’ mental and physical fortitude are displayed in their quests to the summits. The peaks can do little but surrender to the indomitable prowess and willpower of their conquerors. Success confirmed the self-belief and self-mastery.
Climbing towards the Eiger amid worsening weather “the prospect of failure and an ignominious retreat presented itself to our minds with unpleasant distinctness.” But still they persisted upwards, the conditions, “insufficient to overcome that repugnance to abandoning an undertaking once commenced which appears to be naturally inherent in the breasts of Britons, male and female alike.” (413)
Similarly, the ascent to Mont Banc by the Brevna route offers a challenge for the climbers’ skills and technical abilities. Mont Blanc was overcome through “marvellous exercise of skill and activity” and the successful application by which the summit is reached gives Moore the satisfaction he feels rather than reaching the peak itself. (p.463)

Adolphous Warburton Moore (1841-1887) was a pioneering British mountaineer and one of the central figures in the golden age of Alpinism in the 19th century. (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: 19th Century · British History of Climbing · British History of Mountaineering · British Sports · climbing · Diary · Library & Collection Building · Mont Blanc · Mountaineer’s Mountain · Mountaineering · Mountaineering – Collection · Mountaineers · Mountains · Nature · Nature Photography · Nature trail · Switzerland · Tourism · Travel · Travel and Adventure · Travel Guide · Travel Journal · Travel Writing · Travellers · Travelling Authors · Victorian Era
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 120115AB