Val d’Hérens, by Paul Budry (French text) and Franz Baeschlin (German text). 16 pages of text (with the two languages in parallel columns), 76 illustrations. Neuchatel: Editions de la Baconniere, 1951.

Here is the first of a series of small books about various areas and regional customs of Switzerland. The Val d’Hérens extends south ward from the Rhone Valley at Sion and reaches its highest and best-known center, Arolla, close to the Italian frontier. In the Middle Ages the Col de Collon was a smugglers’ route from the Valpelline to the Val d’Herens. In the shorter, eastern branch of the valley, the hamlet of Ferpecle lies below the Dent d’Herens, which pilgrims of bygone years passed on the way from Zermatt to Sion for protection against the Black Death. The women of the valley still wear the old costume in their daily work in the fields; and there are nodding flowers, chamois and sometimes spring cow-fights against the backdrop of Mont Collon

J. M. T.