AUTOGRAPHED Give Me the Hills by Miriam Underhill | 1956 FIRST EDITION | Vintage Woman's Mountain Climbing | Bixley Shop

Noted pioneer of women's mountain climbing, Miriam Underhill was a woman way ahead of her time. In this autographed copy of her autobiography, Give Me the Hills, Mrs. Underhill recounts her lifetime of "manless climbing" in the Alps and the United States.

Born to climb, she starts her story this way...

"One thing is sure - she doesn't want dolls for her birthday. I got one downtown and she turned away in disgust. Aunt Ellen came last night. She says she is going buy a greased pole or tree to climb or something of that order." This, the first written record of my inclination towards climbing, occurs in a letter from my mother to her mother... the letter goes on to record that I weighed, with clothes, 20 pounds."

Tucked inside the book is a small softcover copy of Elephant Tale by Miriam Underhill published in 1965. which is included with this purchase.

ABOUT THE MIRIAM UNDERHILL (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Miriam O'Brien Underhill (1898-1976) was an American mountaineer, environmentalist and feminist, best known for the concept of "manless climbing" – organizing all-women's ascents of challenging climbs, mostly in the Alps. Miriam began serious rock climbing in the Alps in May 1926, completing a first ascent on Torre Grande in the Dolomites by a route now known as the "Via Miriam" in her honor. In 1932, she completed the first all-women's ascent of the Matterhorn with Alice Damesme. "Very early, I realized that the person who invariably climbs behind a good leader...may never really learn mountaineering at all and in any case enjoys only part of the varied delights and rewards of climbing." She went on to say, "I did realize that if women were really to lead, that is, to take the entire responsibility for the climb, there couldn't be any man at all in the party." Her autobiography, Give Me the Hills, was published in London by Methuen Publishing in 1956.

BIXLEY NOTES
• Give Me the Hills
• Written by Miriam Underhill
• FIRST EDITION
• AUTOGRAPHED COPY
• 252 page linen hardcover with dust jacket
• Full color and black & white photography
• Published by Methuen & Co., Ltd., London, 1956 (Original British first edition. U.S. edition was published later in 1971.)
• Elephant Tale by Miriam Underhill included
• Measures 8 3/4" x 5 3/4"

VINTAGE NOTES
• In great condition
• Binding is nice and tight
• No shelf wear on the covers
• Dust jacket has a few creases and two small tears along the edges
• Pages are in excellent shape

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