The Cumberlands: Excerpts from Articles on the Region
9573Monterey KY: Larkspur Press 2006. Full Leather. Fine binding. Octavo. 4 36 4 pp. Limited edition number 9 of 75 copies on Somerset Book paper there was also an edition of 500 regular copies. Signed by Wendell Berry at the colophon; additionally noted by Fox the year it was bound. In full goatskin binding with a series of leather onlays tooled in gold and blind all creating a fantastic pictorial binding. Accompanying the binding is a fine paper portfolio with publisher's prospectuses samples and associated material; additionally some templates related to Fox's binding. All housed a custom clamshell by Fox. <br /> <br /> The text offers a lens into the 19th century view of how a native of region assesses the value of the natural wonders. Berry's commentary at the end of Allen's text brings the troubling viewpoint into a modern context: "The chapter is built upon a division of mind which in our time has become terrifying but which Allen believed to be no more than a simple equation. On the one hand in a sentimentally romantic fashion he was sensitive to the natural life of the area which was then still intact. And on the other hand he seems eager for the destruction of this virgin bounty that so inspired him. I say 'the destruction' and not 'the use' for his language is patently that of an exploiter intent upon 'conquering' nature." A sobering volume that will most surely always remain relevant. Larkspur Press unknown
