Premiers voyages au Mont-Blanc, par. H.-B. de Saussure, M.-T. Bourrit, et leurs contemporains, selected by Daniel May. Paris: Club des Libraires by André Wahl. Price 1950 fr.

In this, the 18th volume of a series Découverte de la Terre, an introduction of 39 pages precedes an anthology extracted from the works of de Saussure, Bourrit, and Deluc. The material is grouped under various headings: Chamonix, the Buet, The Tour of Mont Blanc (exploration and conquest of the mountain), and Col du Géant. While it brings under one cover portions of several narratives, all familiar to students of Alpine history, the book adds little to the knowledge of readers who have the original volumes available.

After the visit of Windham and Pococke to Chamonix in 1741, Mont Blanc came to be regarded much as Everest was a century and more afterward. The early confusion between the Buet and Mont Blanc has its parallel in mistaken identity of Himalayan peaks in modern days; while the caravans of guides and porters, impedimenta and provisions lists from the time of de Saussare to Albert Smith reflect in lesser scale the make-up of early expeditions to the Karakoram.

J. Monroe Thorington