Forward the Nation

G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1942. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Inscribed on the title page in blue ink: "Cordially inscribed by Donald Culross Peattie." With a flowing brown fountain pen is also written: "For my dear Cousin Barbara Cook Taggart, 1602 National Ave, Rockford, Illinois, Nov 21st 1958." It is unclear whether this is a separate hand or Culross's own from on an earlier occasion--it looks exceedingly similar, and it's not otherwise signed. Barbara Cook Taggart is the granddaughter of Mortimer Cook who made a fortune in Santa Barbara and was the town's first mayor, and then founded Sedro on the Skagit River in Washington. So there is a northwest connection, circuitously. Culross describes this book as not a history, yet factually accurate, which I take to mean an early example of narrative nonfiction (creative nonfiction that reads like fiction). Uncommon or scarce signed. Seventh printing. Blue boards with some wear to corners and top and bottom of spine. Creasing at hinges. Very faint blotching to decorative endpapers that show a map of "the westward journey" or the expedition. One loose thread emerging from binding at top of spine. Toning to text block faces and light dust soiling to top face. Pages clean, pale, and crisp. Dust jacket is good/very good with chipping to spine crown and tail, creasing at edges, general wear and toning, and some underlining on copy of front flap. // Wood (+) River (=) Books specializes in ecology, natural history, nature writing, the environment, and environmental literature, with a special passion for association copies and notable inscriptions.