MOUNTAINEERING IN THE DOLOMITES.
[To THE EDITOR 0? THE " SPECTATOR...1
SIR,—In your September 10th issue there is a notice of Mr. S. H. Harner's book on " The Dolomites." Your reviewer says : "There is not a great deal on the subject in English," but adds a list of works. This list does not mention " The Dolomite Mountains," by Josiah Gilbert and G. C. Churchill, F.G.S. It was published by Longmans and Co. in 1864, and it chronicles results of journeys from 1856 to 1863. The book was translated into German at the time, and remained the main authority for many years. Mr. Gilbert was elected to the Alpine Club as the explorer who first made the region known in literature. This members of the Alpine Club still living would testify to. I always understood that the late John Murray was, in point of fact, the first Englishman to travel there, a few years before my husband went. I give you the above facts, as I am sure the Spectator would be the last to inflict, knowingly, a literary injustice.—I am, Sir, &c.,
MARY S. GILBERT.
P.S.—Mr. Churchill was a well-known botanist, and supplied the chapters on the flora.
[Another correspondent writes to suggest that the list should have included " Through the Dolomites," by Dr. Robertson, the Presbyterian chaplain at Venice.—En. Spectator.]
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