The Victorian Mountaineers. By Ronald Clark. (Batsford. 18s.) As far
as it goes, a workmanlike chronicle of the handful of British professional people, with comfortable incomes and long holidays, who had the astonishing luck (as it now seems to us) to find most of the Alps unclimbed and to climb them. But it is nowhere near a complete history, and does not always make the best use of its space. One may perhaps excuse Mr. Clarke for omitting such engaging but minor figures as the Rev. S. W. King and his wife, pioneers of mule-back touring among the lower passes, or the Rev. Harry Jones, whose Regular Swiss Round gave a deliciously awestruck picture of the great Alpine Clubbists at work. But on what principle can he justify a whole chapter allotted to the uninteresting Coolidge, and a mere passing reference to Mummery, unquestionably the greatest of the late- Victorian mountaineers and the one whose influence persists most strongly today? And I for one would have preferred fewer anonymous photographic groups by way of illustration, and more of the pioneers' own charming sketches—for most of them were as quick on the draw with the sketchbook as their descendants are with the Leica.
E.C.
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