The Catskill Mountains and the Region Around By the Rev. Charles Rockwell
A bargain at $39.
A review and perspective
By Bruce McKinney
Just when I decide I don’t know as much as I think I find I know even less. For this epiphany I can thank the Rev. Charles Rockwell, Dutch Dominie of the Catskills, and author of “The Catskill Mountains and the Region Around” that was published in 1867 and revised in 1869 in New York by Taintor Brothers & Co., 229 Broadway. I grew up a scant 35 miles south of Catskill in the Hudson River valley in New Paltz and had, from about the age of 8, a deep and abiding interest in history. That this book eluded me until now is not easily explained.
The Rev. Rockwell’s 351-page book is a very complete collection of both his and others’ accounts of the history and myths of the Catskill Mountain region. There is much and many.
In this book Catskill is the gateway to the Catskill Mountains. This is not a proposition that receives much consideration in southern Ulster County where I come from but, in reading his account his view becomes understandable. In the 19th century access to the Catskills was often made by boat conveying passengers and cargo up the Hudson River. This is long before cars and even longer before good roads. Access by boat made sense.
Near Catskill was the famous Mountain House, the subject of many famous paintings and engravings. In an era captured in many of the paintings of Thomas Cole and others, mystical beauty was a recurring theme and the Catskills one of its epicenters. This book effectively brings the heyday of the Catskills back to view.
Before there were airplanes, Palm Beach and later Palm Springs there was Catskill. New Yorkers and those arriving from other parts could make the final leg of their journey up the Hudson on a virtual tour of American history. The Hudson was yet pristine and in season, filled with Shad whose last wish and goal was to spawn in the streams that fed the Hudson. Past the rocky Pallisades to West Point where Benedict Arnold entered the history books, past Newburgh where Washington quartered his troops and on past Poughkeepsie to Kingston, the first capital of New York State. Continuing north by boat the Mountain House loomed into view high up on the west bank.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
