A Guide Manual to the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky

Louisville, KY: Printed by Bradley & Gilbert, 1860. SCARCE, while OCLC locates 23 copies in institutions, no copies foumd in current commerce, and only the earlier 1858 edition found at auction, and that not since 1963. From the collection of noted Mammoth Cave historian and author Harold Meloy, his small name label front paste down. Bound in contemporary quarter black leather over marbled boards without the original wrappers, Very Good, moderate toning throughout. vi, 7-61 pages. "Doctors had written about the cave before, but with Charles W. Wright, M.D., of the Kentucky School of Medicinein Louisville, a new era of Mammoth Cave medical authors began.Wright was present in Mammoth Cave during the first descent of a deep pit known as the Maelstrom, and he was one of the first explorers of Diamond Caverns. His book The Mammoth Cave of Kentucky was published in 1858 and again in 1859. In 1860 he revised and enlarged it. As A Guide Manual to the Mammoth Cave the 1860 edition became the standard reference book about the cave until it was replaced nine years later by Dr. Binkerd's book. Even after Binkerd's book was replaced by Dr. Forwood's book, Wright's Guide Manual was still in demand. It was republished in 1870, and again in 1875." (MEDICS AT MAMMOTH CAVE by Harold Meloy, Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 5, No. 4, Fall, 1972). First Edition. Quarter Leather. Very Good. 16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall.