UKC

I know this is a bit of a punt, but I'm hoping someone can give me a bit of a steer about a book I bought at the weekend.

The cover has came off, and it's been re-covered with 'the climbing handbook' written on.

The book is clearly old, the pictures show hobnail boots, and not a bit of rubber or lycra in sight. The most recent book referenced in the text is 1908.

The problem I have is that, with the front and back covers being missing, I've no idea as to who wrote it and when.

It's a brilliant book from a historical point of view, and has been annotated by a previous owner.

In a vain hope of getting a new idea of more about it, here's what I already know. It was printed by Butler and Tanner at The Selwood Printing Works. Butler and Tanner were based at Spitalfields and have, sadly, recently ceased to exist.

There are the initials B.M at the foot of a few pages.

The chapters are:-

1 - Introduction
2 - Equipment
3 - Rambling
4 - Scrambling
5 - Practice Climbs on The Low Crags
6 - Rock Climbing
7 - Winter Climbing
8 - Exceptionally Severe Courses (Skye and Mountaineering for Ladies)
9 - Dangers of Mountaineering
10 - Medical Hints

Any help, or even pointers for further research would be great.

Thanks
Steve

In reply to I'd rather be climbing:

Hi there it sounds like British Mountaineering by Claude Benson..1st ed. 1908..
published by George Routledge and sons Ltd.....there is also a second edition...
if you want any photos just drop me a line....although not credited in the photos, some of the gritstone is Almscliffe Crag Yorkshire...
Nigel

In reply to nigel baker:

In case anyone else is interested, you can download that book here:
http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/claude-ernest-benson/british-mountain...

In reply to I'd rather be climbing:
Thanks guys, nice to be able to put it into a bit of context.

Finding out who annotated it may be a bit more of a struggle haha

In reply to hokkyokusei:



That is great, I love the language in these books "The aspiring climber should obtain a pair of stout boots from a reputable boot maker....."

(that's not an actual quote BTW)