Minnewaska was sold to the State of New York about twenty years ago and is now part of the New York States park system. Mohonk continues as a privately owned, and carefully maintained monument to the 19th century where those who love nature, quiet and history continue to vacation today. It should also be noted that the Catskills of the past and the Catskills of the borscht circuit are not quite the same. The Catskills, best known to New Yorkers, are probably that more southerly band of western Ulster and Sullivan counties, where Jewish hotels and wonderful entertainers over a fifty year period, 1920 to 1970, created a serendipitous moment in stand-up comedy. Here are a few of them: Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett, Shelley Berman, George Burns, Jerry Lewis and Phyllis Diller.

Those who are interested to know more about the Mountain House at Catskill will find this online archive interesting: www.catskillarchive.com. For those who are interested in the Mountain House experience today click here for information about the Mohonk Mountain House: www.mohonk.com. For those who would like to spend a day at Lake Minnewaska or the more secluded Lake Awosting try this site which is maintained by the New York State Park Commission: http://nysparks.state.ny.us/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/nysparks/parks.cgi?p+155. For those who prefer the borscht circuit Catskills there are: www.betweenthelakes.com/liberty.htm and www.laugh.com/main_pages/borscht.asp.

You may never buy a book about any of these places but you’ll be richer for the experience of visiting them, even if only electronically.

Copies of “The Catskill Mountains and the Region Around” continue to be available for not much more than a new book. On www.abebooks.com, as we speak there are 3 copies available for $25.00 to $50.00.

A set of the Works of Washington Irving is included in the sale at Waverly Book Auctions to be held on September 11th. It is lot 23 - twenty-one volumes printed in 1859-60. The estimate is $100/150. Bids below the low estimate are accepted. Shipping for this set could be substantial but packing is handled in house and the normal shipping is UPS ground - a reasonable shipping option. Here is a link to this sale should you want some of the best literature of the 19th century:
www.waverlyauctions.com/CurrentSale/sec1.htm.