Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1965. 15th Edition. 344pp. Octavo [21.5 cm] Blue cloth with the title gilt stamped on the front board and backstrip. Color illustration of the Grand Canyon on the front board. Fine/Fine. Item #10950
Inscribed by Emery Kolb on the verso of the front free endsheet: "Yours very truly Emery C. Kolb. Age 86 1/2. 1967. Grand Canyon, Arizona." Illustrated with numerous black and white views from the Kolb brothers at the rear.
"Because of the many years of lectures and motion pictures at the Kolb studio on the rim of Grand Canyon the experiences of Ellsworth and Emery Kolb are probably better known than those of any who have run the rapids since Powell. They made their trip the hard way - in low water, and cold at that. Their book is straightforward narrative and deserves the popularity it has long enjoyed. There have been frequent reprints." - Farquhar 53b
The legendary Kolb Brothers, Emery & Ellsworth, opened their studio in 1904, perched on the rim of the Grand Canyon (it is the building that looms over the top of the Bright Angel Trail). The building is still standing, but is now operated as a museum and gallery. They took countless images of the Canyon and the Colorado River below.
Ellsworth and Emery Kolb were brothers, born in Pennsylvania, interested in photography and the 'Wild West.' In the winter of 1911, they made the first motion picture of a river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers, where the brothers were repeatedly tossed into the river by their bucking boats. At one memorable point, as Ellsworth struggled to stay afloat in the roiling Colorado, Emery captured the moment on film before rushing to his brother's rescue.
Photographing the Grand Canyon was not an easy task in the early 1900s. Patience, determination, and physical strength were required to deal with cumbersome equipment and unforgiving conditions. Whenever possible, Emery and Ellsworth used burros to transport the bulky equipment on their Canyon explorations. But their best pictures were often taken in locations inaccessible to the animals, and they relied on their own brawn and balance to carry the cameras while climbing the Canyon walls, these exploits soon earned them the title 'daring photographers of the Grand Canyon.'.
Price: $100.00