In the Catskills

“The eight essays in this volume all deal with the home region of their author; for not only did Mr. Burroughs begin life in the Catskills, and dwell in them until early manhood, but as he himself declares, he has never taken root anywhere else. Their delectable heights and valleys have engaged his deepest affections as far as locality is concerned, and however widely he journeys and whatever charms he discovers in nature elsewhere, still the loveliness of those pastoral boyhood uplands is unsurpassed.” – from the Introduction by Clifton Johnson

This collection by the “father of the nature essay” is among the classics of Catskills literature. Burroughs’s keen sense of observation, his passion for scientific subjects, exquisite prose and deep feeling for a treasured place delineate the Catskills in all their variety and allure. An ascent of Slide mountain; the clear, sharp tracks of a red fox visible on a winter morning; the dark, sheltered retreat of a hemlock forest: these scenes are as fresh today as when Burroughs set them down over a century ago.

The book is a reprint of the 1910 edition featuring an introduction and 24 photographs by the writer and photographer Clifton Johnson.