A second, enlarged edition of a popular anthology, The Hudson River in Literature contains an abundance of poems and excerpts from novels and essays describing the Hudson River, work and travel on it, and life alongside it prior to the twentieth century. Included here are works by such well-known writers as Washingon Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant, Edgar Allen Poe, and Walt Whitman, as well as selections by lesser-known writers (like Joseph Rodman Drake and Nathaniel Parker Willis) whose works are either out of print or are available only as part of their selected works.
From Whitman's "mast-hemm'd Manhattan" to Nathaniel Parker Willis' "sabbath solitude" on upstate riverbanks, anyone familiar with what is often called the American Rhine, and indeed many who are not, will enjoy the detailed, still-accurate descriptions of the river itself. But perhaps even more enjoyable are the numerous excerpts that describe particular aspects of Hudson life- Indian canoes, Dutch farms, steamboat excursions, and the majestic scenery- which allows one to visualize the river at a time when it dominated life in Eastern New York.
This handsome volume has been made more so by the inclusion of 65 illustrations, not found in the original edition, which lavishly depict many of the locales descibed in various texts. The illustrations, by such renowned artists as Currier and Ives, Greenville Perkins, William Bartlett, and Felix Darley, include regional maps, portraits of authors, and reproductions of historic sites and homes.