The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West ; "biographical sketches of the participants by scholars of the subject and with introduction by the editor (10 Volume set) with Prospectus
Glendale, California, (1965-1972): Arthur H. Clark Company, First Editions. Octavo. Item #032573
There were about 3,000 men in the fur trade and Hafen has included some 1,200 books, theses, and articles in his select bibliography of 292 mountain men in his edited collection. This project contains carefully prepared biographies of some four hundred Mountain Men. More than fifty scholars were involved in the project. While there were a few mountain men during the time Lewis and Clark were making their own exploration, their accounts were followed by men of adventure who dreamt of the fortune to be made in furs. The rugged life which had enormous risks was characterized by most of the mountain men as survival. This ten volume set is the gold standard against which all other books on the fur trade should be measured. A very nice set with the very scarce prospectus laid in and with a typed note to the unnamed owner that the buyers who wanted to complete the set should place a firm order. In the period of 1970-1971, most collectors had the first nine volumes and waited for the index which makes the whole set complete and open for serious reading and research. Frontispieces in all volumes except the index volume and volume one which is in full color from a painting by Robert Lindneux, illustrated and with maps. All volumes bound in brown cloth with a few spots of rubbing to a few joints, top edges of various dark colors, a couple of bumped corners, spines lettered in gilt. An exceptionally nice set.
Price: $1,275.00