From Lake to Lake; or, a Trip Across Country. A Narrative of the Wilds of Maine. With thirty illustrations, drawn by Reder, Garrett, Reed, and Myrick.

Jamaica Plain, Mass.: Jamaica Publishing Co., 1887. 12mo (7.5” x 5.5”), white cloth with black title and pictorial design. [13], 224 pp., [4] pp. publ. ads., 30 engraved plates. Early ownership inscription on endpaper.

First edition. A novel based on Farrar’s experiences in the Rangeley Lakes region. He relates in the preface that the incidents contained in this book occurred during the year 1876—the first summer a steamboat was ever run on the Richardson Lakes, and during which he took his first trip from the Richardsons to Parmachenee Lake. He notes, “Should any of my readers ever make the trip from Lake to Lake I sincerely hope that they may have better luck and better weather than I did.” Some of the Chapters are titled: “We Make a Start,” “A Rough Passage,” “A Successful Hunt,” “We Retrace our Course,” “Bad News,” and “The Wrecked Steamer.”

The most prolific 19th century writer on the Maine woods, Farrar’s other works include guide-books to Rangeley and Moosehead Lake, a series of camping narratives, including Camp Life in the Wilderness and Through the Wilds, and four north woods adventure stories: Eastward Ho!, Wild Woods Life, Down the West Branch, and Up the North Branch.

REFERENCES: Williamson, A Bibliography of the State of Maine, #3275; Thompson, Edward V. Important Maine Maps, Books, Prints and Ephemera. Orono, 2003, 323A; Wright III, 1801.

CONDITION: Good, light wear to extremities; contents good, margins of most leaves toned; some loss to paper at inside front hinge, paper cracked at inside back hinge, but both hinges sound; front-end paper partially separated.