Beginning in 1937 during a period when full volume travel-touring documentary books were appearing on American bookshelves en masse, this unique sweeping series continued on until 1974. Volume 63 appeared towards the end of the run, adding a river as old-and-wise-seeming as the Appalachia and Cumberland Plateau regions through which it flows, trundling across northern Tennessee before emptying into the Ohio River. The origin of the series idea and its first editor, Candace Skinner, purposefully sought out not historians, but writers, stating: “This is to be a literary and not a historical series. The authors of these books will be novelists and poets” … James McCague was a prolific 20th century writer. He ranged across American themes, if settling in mostly with 19th century subjects: white settler expansion west, the railroads, the steamboat era on The Mississippi—and Cumberland—rivers, the tragic 1863 New York City Draft Riots, plus a volume on the great and influential Shawnee chief, Tecumseh. To his credit, McCague does not start The Cumberland with Daniel Boone, as so many other regional histories had done prior to the aperture of American history storytelling opening more fully. He gives the earliest inhabitants of the region their due in vital chapters, prior to the essential story of Boone, the flatboat settlers in his wake, and the resulting explosive growth of Nashville along The Cumberland’s banks. With superb illustrations by Charles Walker, this first edition is a wonderful addition for the series collector, or anyone who (like us) feels drawn to this magnificent region of the country. A final description is taken from the inner dust jacket: "The Cumberland River flows mainly through Tennessee, but it begins and ends in Kentucky. The surrounding area is one of the richest and most interesting—both physically and historically—in the mid-American heartland. James McCague describes not only the natural beauty but also the history of the river that became a vital artery of America's westward expansion." [Condition: A first edition in very good shape. The dust jacket has the slight evidence of age, a minor tear and edge shelf wear. The volume itself is in near mint condition, with only minor age-related “foxing” noticeable on outside page edges.]
Condition: Used Very Good. Travel / Touring. James McCague. Holt Rhinehart Winston, 1973. Hardcover (First Edition), 225 pgs, 5.5 x 8" / 1 lb
