As you might expect, there are many Elders of which I am particularly fond, including A Balloon Ascension at Midnight, the Western Classics series, California the Beautiful, Yosemite Legends, San Francisco Through Earthquake and Fire,
Bird Notes Afield, and The Simple Home. But if forced to pick just one, I would choose Wayfarers in Italy by Katherine Hooker, published by Elder & Shepard in 1902. It appeals to me on many levels:
- It’s beautifully made
- It’s engaging reading
- There are many quality photographs by Katherine’s daughter Marian
- The book includes a map of turn-of-the-century Italy (whose borders in the northeast and northwest are different from today’s Italy)
- Katherine and Marian Hooker were active, athletic, modern women who pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable at the time for women to do
- Lastly, it makes me think about how much the world has changed in the past 120 years