Not Too Greatly Changed Eden , livre ebook

281

pages

English

Ebooks

2015

Écrit par
James Schlett

Publié par
Cornell University Press

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281

pages

English

Ebooks

2015

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Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus

Publié par

Cornell University Press

Date de parution

25 novembre 2015

EAN13

9780801456282

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

26 Mo

In August 1858, William James Stillman, a painter and founding editor of the acclaimed but short-lived art journal The Crayon, organized a camping expedition for some of America's preeminent intellectuals to Follensby Pond in the Adirondacks. Dubbed the "Philosophers' Camp," the trip included the Swiss American scientist and Harvard College professor Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, the Republican lawyer and future U.S. attorney general Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, the Cambridge poet James Russell Lowell, and the transcendental philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, who would later pen a poem about the experience. News that these cultured men were living like "Sacs and Sioux" in the wilderness appeared in newspapers across the nation and helped fuel a widespread interest in exploring the Adirondacks.In this book, James Schlett recounts the story of the Philosophers' Camp, from the lives and careers of-and friendships and frictions among-the participants to the extensive preparations for the expedition and the several-day encampment to its lasting legacy. Schlett's account is a sweeping tale that provides vistas of the dramatically changing landscapes of the United States in the second half of the nineteenth century. As he relates, the scholars later formed an Adirondack Club that set out to establish a permanent encampment at nearby Ampersand Pond. Their plans, however, were dashed amid the outbreak of the Civil War and the advancement of civilization into a wilderness that Stillman described as "a not too greatly changed Eden." But the Adirondacks were indeed changing.When Stillman returned to the site of the Philosophers' Camp in 1884, he found the woods around Follensby had been disfigured by tourists. Development, industrialization, and commercialization had transformed the Adirondack wilderness as they would nearly every other aspect of the American landscape. Such devastation would later inspire conservationists to establish Adirondack Park in 1892. At the close of the book, Schlett looks at the preservation of Follensby Pond, now protected by the Nature Conservancy, and the camp site's potential integration into the Adirondack Forest Preserve.

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Publié par

Cornell University Press

Date de parution

25 novembre 2015

EAN13

9780801456282

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

26 Mo

A NOT TOO GREATLY CHANGED EDEN

A NOT TOO GREATLY CHANGED EDEN n T HE STORY OF T HE PHI LOSOPHE RS’ CAMP I N T HE ADI RONDACKS

J a m e s S c h l e t t

CORNELLUNIVERSITYPRESSIthaca and London

This publication has been aided by a generous subvention from Furthermore, a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund.

Cover illustration: William James Stillman,The Philosophers’ Camp in the Adirondacks, 1858. Oil on canvas, 30" ×19". Courtesy Concord Free Public Library.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2015 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2016

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Schlett, James, author. A not too greatly changed Eden : the story of the Philosophers’ Camp in the Adirondacks / James Schlett. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 9780801453526 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 9781501704451 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. United States—Intellectual life—19th century. 2. Adirondack Mountains (N.Y.)—History—19th century. 3. Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803–1882. 4. Stillman, William James, 1828–1901. I. Title. E166.S325 2015 973.46—dc23 2014049164

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing Paperback printing

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For my parents, John and Pat Schlett

 Co nt e nt s

List of Illustrations ix Prefacexi

Introduction: Amid the RuinsPa r t I . N at u r e a n d S o c i e t y1. Path to the Adirondacks2. Turning Points3.TheCrayon4. “Adieu to the World”5. The Artist Reborn6. Trial Run7. The Procession to the PinesPa rt I I . Th e C a m p a n d C lu b 8. Acclimating to the Wild9. The Worthy Crew Chaucer Never Had10.Ampersand11. The Inaugural MeetingPa r t I I I . C a m p f i r e Lo r e 12. War13.Peace14. The Ravages of Modern Improvement15. The Old America and the New

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viiiCONTENTS

Conclusion: The Story Reborn

Postscript

Notes209 Select Bibliography 237 Index249

Plates are at the end of the book

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 I l lu s t r at i o n s

Figures 1. Samuel W. Rowse,Stillman,William James mid-1850sEverett Millais,2. Sir John Christ in the House of His Parents ( The Carpenter’s Shop),1849–50James Stillman,3. William Study on Upper Saranac Lake,18544. Frank Hector Tompkins,Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar,1887artist,5. Unidentified James Russell Lowell,circa 1855–656. Unknown artist,Ralph Waldo Emerson,date unknown7. TheCrayon,1855volume 1, 8. Julius R. Bien, map of Franklin County, 1895 9. Unidentified artist,Louis Agassiz,circa 1860–7310. William James Stillman,The Oaks, Waverley,circa 187411. John Adams Whipple,Jeffries Wyman,circa 185812. Carl Heilman II,Follensby Pond,201113. William James Stillman,CampThe Philosophers’ in the Adirondacks,185814. Charles E. Whitehead, engraving of the Philosophers’ Camp, 1858 15. Asher Durand,Woodland Interior,circa 185516. Frederic Rondel,Woods/A Hunting Party in the In the Adirondac,1856 17. William James Stillman,Rustic Lean-To,185918. New York State Treasurer’s Office receipt of payment for Township Twenty-Seven property issued to Samuel G. Ward and E. R. Hoar, 185919. William James Stillman,Photographic Studies Part 1. The Forest. Adirondack Woods,185920. Carl Heilman II,Boulder at Camp Maple Site,2008

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