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ELIZABETH KNOWLTON : 1940s WONDERFUL ARCHIVE INCLUDING EDITED TYPESCRIPTS OF ARTICLES, SHORT STORIES AND NOVELS OF ELIZABETH KNOWLTON, ONE OF THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED FEMALE MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20th CENTURY

12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. On offer is a super, thorough archive of typescripts for numerous articles, stories and novels by the pioneering mountain climber Elizabeth Knowlton. Knowlton was a renowned mountain climber who in 1932 became the first woman to climb as high as 20,000 feet in the Himalayas. She attained world fame when she was the only woman in a German-American expedition that attempted to climb the 27,660-foot-high Nanga Parbat in Kashmir, the seventh-highest peak in the world. The men in charge of the climb would not let her continue beyond the 20,000-foot level. Knowlton would capitalize on her fame and write numerous novels, short stories, and articles on both mountaineering, and on wider societal trends and forces. This archive contains typescripts of: "Visits to Two Great Peaks," Time's Chariot," "Is the New Barbarism Practical?" "Rip Van Winkle in the Alps," "Avalanche Wind," and "The Blue People and the Purple People Lived Together on an Island." There are no dates attached to any of these typescripts, but they are most likely from the 1940s. The only solid indication is the "New Barbarism" piece, written in 1941. Single page typed, or mimeographed sheets, bearing handwritten pencil corrections, editing marks and commentary, presumably revision comments most probably by Knowlton, though there are numerous edits, especially on "Visits to Two Great Peaks" that were obviously written by an editor. Some scripts are incomplete with pagination jumping (when numbered). A few pages are cut, presumably as part of the editing process. During the time that these articles and stories were being written, Knowlton lived on 400 West 119th Street, New York, NY. This is indicated on the cover to "Time's Chariot," which also contains a editor's note, "Due - April 30, For Discussion - May 6." Some of these works reflect Knowlton's interest in mountaineering, with Avalanche Wind being part of an unpublished novel. The New Barbarism piece analyzes the rise of fascism in Europe, questioning whether Hitler or Mussolini can be defeated, so perhaps indicating an early 1940s timeframe. Several small photos of unidentified people glued to cardboard inserted at the rear of one script. Elizabeth Knowlton was mountaineer and writer, working often as a freelance journalist who focused mostly on mountains and those who climbed them. (Background - Elizabeth Knowlton, a native of Springfield, Mass., was a graduate of Vassar and received a master's degree in English from Radcliffe. She began climbing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire when she was 7 years old. Fluent in German, French, Italian and Spanish, she was at home among explorers in the many expeditions in which she took part in the Alps and in Mexico and Canada. After World War II she took part in the first two ascents of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. She was in her 60's when she made her last climbs in the Nepalese foothills. She was a member of the Explorers Club, the Appalachian Mountain Club and the American Alpine Club. She is perhaps most known for her work "Naked Mountain"; which recalled her experiences on a 1932 expedition to Nanga Parbat.) The typescripts are in good condition, with the paper intermittently fragile and worn, presumably due to handling. Exterior paper folder ink stained and creased.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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