Buy this book on-line Fleming, Fergus : Killing Dragons: The Conquest of the AlpsAtlantic Monthly Press, New York, 2000 ISBN 087113778X
398pp. B&W Illustrations, 8vo, Fine in Fine DJ Click here for full details of this book, to ask a question or to buy it on-line. Bibliophile Bookbase probably offers multiple copies of Fleming, Fergus : Killing Dragons: The Conquest of the Alps. Click here to select from a complete list of available copies of this book. Fleming, Fergus : Killing Dragons : The Conquest of the AlpsGranta Books, London, 2000 ISBN 1862073791
FIRST PRINTING of the First Edition. A fascinating history of Alpine exploration, both the mountaineering and the science study there, the author discussing the various personalities in both fields, the dangers and fatalities, the knowledge gained from the research carried out in geology and climatology, much more Hardcover with dust jacket, contains glossy illustrations, bibliography, source notes, indexed, 398pp. A very nice copy. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Book. Book Condition: Fine. Binding: Hardcover. Jacket: Fine Click here for full details of this book, to ask a question or to buy it on-line. Bibliophile Bookbase probably offers multiple copies of Fleming, Fergus : Killing Dragons : The Conquest of the Alps. Click here to select from a complete list of available copies of this book. FLEMING, FERGUS: : KILLING DRAGONS: THE CONQUEST OF THE ALPSLONDON.GRANTA PUBLICATIONS,2000. ISBN 1862073791.
UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.] FINE/FINE. Neat,blue ink gift presentation inscrptn to top right-hand corner of ffe (front free endpaper) and no price-clip (£20.00) to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,monochrome illustration reproduction illustrated dw/dj panels,with blue+red lettering to front panel; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,
appears unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip and clean plain pale blue endpapers.UK,8vo HB+ dw/dj,1st edn,vi-ixpp+2-398pp [paginated] includes preface and acknowledgements,27 chapters each with a b/w line headpiece illustration,16pp contemporary,historical b/w 19thC illustration reproductions and b/w photographs in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece, between pp116/7 and pp276/7 respectively,a 4pp select bibliography,20pp sources,and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title page,b/w line headpiece illustrated title page,double-page b/w map of showing Alps mountain range of Europe (includes France, Austria and Switzerland) and 6pp blanks at the rear.
A HAIR-RAISING,HILARIOUS ACCOUNT OFTHE BIRTH OF MOUNTAINEERING.
Above the pastures of Switzerland,it was believed,dragons and ghosts inhabited the realms of ice and snow.No one in their right mind considered climbing into the Alps - and certainly not for pleasure.
In the late 18thC,however,scientific gentlemen began to turn their minds to these high places.
What would the peaks tell us about the atmosphere,about weather,about glaciers? And so they set off,early pioneers like the Swiss geologist Saussure and his rival Bourrit,armed with gallons of wine,roast fowl,theodolites and barometers,walking in their ordinary clothes up the sheer rocks into the unknown.
When the British came on the scene,
mountain-climbing as an obsession,an art form and a sport was born.
Full of the imperial confidence that had already conquered so much of Asia and Africa,Britons set out to plant their flag on every peak in the Alps.These early Alpine adventurers were fanatically competitive climbers.They included John Tyndall,the famous physicist who wished to test theories about how glaciers were formed; showmen,like Albert Smith,the Victorian impresario who made a fortune putting the conquest of Mont Blanc onto the London stage and zealots,like Edward Whymper,the wood engraver turned monomaniacal mountaineer.They fought each other on the peaks and in print,their rivalries lasting for years,and entertained a vast public in the process.
The great mountains were conquered one by one,by insouciant public schoolboys and dogged tradesmen alike.The glaciers accumulated mangled bodies that made their way slowly down to the valleys.More and more tourists came; the dragons were
dead.By the third decade of the 20thC only the suicidally dangerous north faces of the Eiger and Matterhorn remained to be climbed by the proteges of Hitler and Mussolini.
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