Mac of Placid (1920) is not the most widely known work by Thomas Morris Longstreth, but it stands well as one of the classic early novels of the region. I come across copies occasionally, and currently have three for sale. Pictured is the Grosset & Dunlap edition in a dustjacket (most these days have lost their jacket sometime in the 90 years since publication). The Century Company put out the green covered edition, also circa 1920. They are printed from the same plates. At its core, and on many levels, Mac of Placid is a Romantic Novel in the truest sense. Longstreth romanticized the early European American residents and pioneers of the region; he romanticized and perhaps idolized Robert Louis Stevenson; and his work itself reflects the romantic ideal of literature and of the age that seemed to be on the wane in that era. His prose, throughout all his works, underscores his attachment to the romantic sensibility. I first read this book in the 1970’s. To me then it was a straightforward adventure, all the more interesting for its being set in my home town. As with other of stories of the region, it was fun to associate the ...

I still remember the first time I read The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. I forget how old I was, but I am pretty sure I was in high school. Hawkeye may not be a solely, or even a primarily, Adirondack character, but his adventures in The Last of the Mohicans certainly took him deep into the pre-revolutionary wilderness of the Adirondacks. The other four Leatherstocking Tales are set primarily to the south of the Adirondacks, or in the case of The Prairie, out on the prairie. [caption id="attachment_23" align="alignnone" width="209" caption="James Fenimore Cooper"][/caption] The Last of the Mohicans is a wonderful book. Other than this, the only other volume in the series I have fully read is The Deerslayer. Much has been written on the Five Volume Saga, including the entertaining and none too complimentary “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses” by Mark Twain, which can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg here. Putting aside the consistency and literary quality of the writing, all the book remain extremely important if only for their glimpse into eastern frontier life and their contribution to the forging of our national myths. Despite the uneven quality of the series as a whole, Mohicans is not ...