|
Here are some books we admire and thought you might enjoy: |
|
| The Adirondack Guideboat, by Kenneth and Helen Durant | |
 |
We believe this book, along with the Adirondack Museum, are primarily responsible for the survival of the Adirondack guideboat. The dean of American small craft - John Gardner - wrote the introduction to and an updated chapter for this boat. Profusely illustrated, this book charts the evolution of our boats, through variant forms of construction to the use of modern materials. It is also a beautifully written. The book has its own fascinating story. Kenneth Durant had a life-long love affair the with Adirondacks and the Adirondack guideboat. He spent 20 years researching every detail of the boat's history and construction. He then learned that Lewis Grant, the son of one of the last and greatest guideboat builders, Dwight Grant, was still alive. |
| And...his father's boatshop was still completely intact, with patterns on the wall and wood in the racks. For 2 years Lewis and Ken built boat parts, talked tools and patterns and techniques. Then, at age 82, Lewis Grant died. Then, a year later, Kenneth Durant died. The book was then written by Kenneth's wife, Helen Durant. Without their well-timed efforts a huge amount of guideboat information would have been largely lost to history. $25 | |
| Boats and Boating in the Adirondacks, by Hallie Bond | |
 |
Hallie is the Curator of Boats and Exhibits at the Adirondack Museum. She is also a friend of ours. In this lovely large-format book, Hallie has assembled a very complete boat history of this region, sometimes called ' America's Venice.' North of the Mohawk and south of the St. Lawrence, east of Lake Ontario and west of Lake Champlain...is a region called the Adirondacks. If you happen to fly over the region, and you have a window seat, notice how different the lake distribution is from other places you've flown over. The thousands of tightly scattered lakes and ponds...that's why our boats were invented. The jacket text on the book records, "A tale written on the water." Historical photographs, catalog advertisements and detailed illustrations on nearly every page. $50 |
| Rushton and His Times in American Canoeing, by Atwood Manley | |
 |
This is the story of J. Henry
Rushton, boat builder, designer and businessman, 1873-1917. A boat shop in
Canton NY bearing the Rushton name produced canoes and small boats. At the
North edge of the Adirondack wilderness, Rushton and his 20 or so
employees crafted light-weight portable boats to legendary standards of
excellence. Rushton and his boats most influenced Steve's boatbuilding career. And this book was Steve's first book on the subject. The lines and offsets of the "Saranac Laker" gave birth to his first boat. If you have the 'boat bug' and are particularly interested in canoes and guideboats, it all starts here. $18
|
| Adirondack Camps: Homes Away from Home, by Craig Gilborn. | |
 |
Craig Gilborn was, for 20 years, the Director of the Adirondack Museum. This book recounts how, from log and tree-bark shelters evolved an architectural style of rustic traditions which culminated in an Adirondack art form - the "Great Camp." Birch bark shanties, an open lean-to, even tree houses provided humble shelters for hunters and hermits. The privileged arrived at their architect-designed compounds of 40 - 50 buildings in private railroad cars. A picture book of the extremes of cultural development in the Adirondacks through its architecture. $50 |