North America

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Title page from Letters from an American Farmer

J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur (1735-1813).

Letters from an American Farmer, Describing Certain Provincial Situations, Manners, and Customs, and Conveying some Idea of the State of the People of North America. Philadelphia: from the press of Mathew Carey, March 4, 1793.


Crèvecoeur, a minor French nobleman, traveled in Pennsylvania in 1759 before settling besides New York’s Hudson River. After returning to France in 1780, he wrote the first edition of Letters from an American Farmer in 1782, which became a success. In Letters from an American Farmer Crèvecoeur argued that the American environment helped shape American identity, and he discusses his thoughts on how Europeans became American. He also examined the customs, lifestyle, government, and natural world that were part of his life in America.

From Letter III, “What is an American?”: "Men are like plants; the goodness and flavour of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow. We are nothing but what we derive from the air we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the government we obey, the system of religion we profess, and the nature of our employment.”

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Cover of The Pocket Guide to California

J. Ely Sherwood

The Pocket Guide to California: a Sea and Land Route Book, Containing a Description of the El Dorado; its Geographical Position; People, Climate, Soil, Productions, Agricultural Resources, Commercial Advantages, and Mineral Wealth; with a Chapter on Gold Formations; also the Congressional Map, and the Various Routes and Distances to the Gold Regions. To which is added the Gold-Hunter's Memorandum and Pocket Directory.  New York: J.E. Sherwood, 1849.



In the midst of the California gold rush, J. Ely Sherwood, an experienced traveler, created this handy guide to navigating the gold region for the flood of prospectors descending on the area.  The guide provides maps of land and sea routes, and describes California geography, climate, and people. Advertisements within the guide show a large array of merchandise available to the newest settlers of California.

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Picture from Travels into North America

Pehr (or Peter) Kalm ( 1716-1779).

Travels into North America: Containing its Natural History, and a Circumstantial Account of its Plantations and Agriculture in General, with the Civil, Ecclesiastical and Commercial State of the Country, the Manners of the Inhabitants, and Several Curious and Important Remarks on Various Subjects… Translated into English by John Reinhold Forster.  London: The Editor, 1770-71. Volumes 1-3.


Kalm was a student of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, who is known for his work devising a naming system for plants.  Arriving in Pennsylvania in 1748, Kalm settled in New Jersey as a pastor.  His travels took him to Niagara Falls, and as far as Quebec, and Kalm made observations concerning the American landscape and the people populating the country.  He returned to Sweden in 1751, and published his account under the title En Resa til Norra America, later translated into Travels into North America.

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First letter from the Liscom family letters

[Letter] 2 January 1873, Lemuel Franklin Liscom [to] Lemuel Liscom, Boston. 

The Liscom Family was composed of three generations of itinerant New England bridge builders.  In this letter, the son, Lemuel “Frank” Liscom, writes to his father about bridges he is building in New England. Also included in the narration is a description of his wife, Dollie, and the “grand and beautiful” painting she has made of the Yosemite Valley.  She painted it from a 10” x 12” photograph and enlarged it to 4 ft x 6 ft.  Frank tells his father the painting has attracted good notice and “is the finest in Boston of Yosemite Valley.”  Frank’s brother, Charles and his wife, moved to California by way of Utah, having worked for Brigham Young.  Possibly Charles sent the photograph mentioned in the letter to Frank and his wife.  What is significant is that the letter is dated prior to Yosemite becoming a national park. The Valley was granted to California in 1864 for public use but according to John Muir was threatened by ranching, logging and other endeavors.  In 1890 Yosemite becomes the United States’ third national park.  The Liscom Collection of letters was acquired by Lehigh University to complement its extensive collection of bridge building material. 

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Second letter from the Liscom family letters

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Sketch of Buffalo Niagra Falls and Vicinity

George H. Daniels

Sketch of Buffalo Niagara Falls and Vicinity: The Coming Industrial Center of America. New York, 1904.


Niagara Falls has enchanted numerous travelers, from early American explorers Louis Hennepin and Peter Kalm, to the crowds of tourists visiting the Falls today.   Mark Twain’s essay in this book, “The first authentic mention of Niagara Falls,” is a humorous look at the Falls through the diary of the first man, Adam.  Other essays discuss the history of the Falls, describe flora and fauna, and note famous visitors to the Falls.

Lehigh’s edition of this book had the 1904 map “Sketch of Buffalo Niagara Falls and Vicinity,” tucked into the pages.  This map traces the New York Central train lines in red, which had multiple routes leading into the “coming industrial center of America.”

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Cover of The Niagra Book

William Dean Howells (1837-1920), Mark Twain (1835-1910), Prof. Nathaniel S. Shaler (1841-1906), and others.
The Niagara Book: a Complete Souvenir of Niagara Falls, Containing Sketches, Stories and Essays.
  Buffalo, Underhill and Nichols, 1893.

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Cover of Life in the Rocky Mountains

Isabella Lucy Bird (1831-1904).                                

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains. 
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, [1882].


 

Englishwoman Isabella Bird was a noted traveler, writer, and early female adventurer, seeking out places to explore in America and throughout the world.  She first traveled in America and wrote of her experiences in The Englishwoman in America, published in 1856.  A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains (1879), one of her most famous works, describes her 800 mile journey on horseback through the Rocky Mountains in 1873 through letters to her sister Henrietta.  Bird was captivated by the mountains and canyons, which she thoroughly describes in A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains.