I found a copy of "Woodcraft And Camping" by Nessmuk (George W. Sears) on the net. It is the 1920 edition and not the later, heavily edited, 1963 edition by Dover Press. The document I have has obviously been OCRed and not proofread at all. It is riddled with errors.

I am working my way through it, correcting the errors. Later, I will convert it to HTML and possibly other formats. So far, I haven't found a copy of this book locally to compare against. I don't wish to buy a copy just for this project.

If anyone has a copy of this book (preferably the 1920 edition), you could help me tremendously in proofreading the text. As I proofread, I am making a list of questionable passages. When I am done, I would like to email someone who has the book my list of passages, to be checked against the hardcopy. This list will be short. I am half done with the text now and only have three passages on my list so far.

If someone would like to help me out with this, I would appreciate it greatly. If you only have the 1963 Dover edition, that would still be helpful, as most of the text is the same. Something not required, but very desirable: if you have the ability to scan the few images contained in the book, I could include them in the finished ebook, instead of the poor quality images from the PDF copy that I have.

I know that Google has the 1963 edition online, but only selected pages are available for viewing.

When finished, the ebook will obviously be posted here. Also, since the 1920 edition should be public domain, I will also see if Project Gutenberg is interested in a copy (they don't seem to have it).

Edit: It seems that this book was originally published in 1884, under the title of "Woodcraft" and that it was later published in 1920, under the title of "Woodcraft And Camping". I don't know what the differences are between the two editions (if any). BTW, Nessmuk died in 1890.

Hmm, 62 views on this post and no one has this book yet. I'm currently trying to get a copy through inter-library loan, but that may take several weeks (so they tell me). Hopefully, either I'll get that copy, or someone here will turn up a copy before too long.

Personally, I prefer a good hotel any time.


However, in an effort to be helpful I did a quick Google search and found a pdf version of Woodcraft and Camping.

Here:

http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=321

or here:

http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_topic.php?id_rubrique=30

Hopefully, you can compare it to your poorly-scanned version.
Or else you might try to convert the pdf file.

Thanks for trying, but that is the PDF that I am working from already. I actually found three different places online that had it, but they were all the same version. The Google online copy is the 1962 Dover Publishing edition, which had a lot of material edited out. Also, the Google version only allows me to view a handful of pages, since the Dover edition is still in copyright.

If you take a look at the PDF you found, you can see numerous OCR errors. I can figure out most of them, but some passages are pretty scrambled.

Hopefully, either I'll get a copy via the library, or someone else will turn up a copy of the book. In the mean time, I'm still working on correcting what I have.

Although some of the woodcraft aspects of the book are rather dated, and frowned upon today, much of the rest of the book is still applicable. The most amazing thing to me is that the author was extolling the virtues of "going light" over 100 years ago. This was when everyone else who took to the woods was carrying enough equipment to outfit a small expedition.

What a pity. I'm sorry not to be more helpful. Good luck with the book. It will be interesting to see.

Have you seen this version - hopefully it's not the same as the one you are working from :

http://www.lostrock.net/websites/ctfischerknives/pdf_flash/Nessmukbook.pdf

Sartori

I hadn't seen that one. Although it doesn't say who the publisher is, from looking at it, I think it is the Dover 1963 edition, as it is missing the chapter on fishing and has several editorial comments added. Having said that, this copy is much cleaner, so I can at least use it to help proofread the 1920 edition.

Thanks a lot for finding this. I Googled extensively and didn't turn this one up.

Edit: Yes, that has to be the 1963 edition, as it is missing two entire chapters and several paragraphs from other chapters. However, it still helped me clear up about half of the proofreading errors that I still had. I have several errors left, that are in the missing chapters, so I'm going to have to get ahold of a hardcopy. Hopefully, the library will be able to turn up a copy eventually.

Can anyone help with the definition of the word "moquims"? The word is used in "Woodcraft And Camping" and is some type of insect. I can't seem to find a definition anywhere.

Another word is "sancudos", which according to what I have found is a type of mosquito. I'm trying to do a glossary for this text. There are several unusual words like the above, including some archaic ones like "gill", meaning four ounces.

I was brought up on (UK) Imperial measurements. A gill (in the UK) is FIVE fluid ounces, or a quarter of an Imperial pint (20 fluid oz.).

(NB An American pint is 16 oz, I believe.)

I was brought up on (UK) Imperial measurements. A gill (in the UK) is FIVE fluid ounces, or a quarter of an Imperial pint (20 fluid oz.).

(NB An American pint is 16 oz, I believe.)

Yes, I saw that there were two different definitions. However, since Nessmuk was an American, I'll use four ounces. Hey, we Americans like to be different, even when it comes to strange units of measure :) However, I'll take even a British definition of "moquim" at this point :)

jbenny,

From a search of "moquim insect" at books.google.com

1st book result : Chambers's Edinburgh journal, conducted by W. Chambers. - Page 458

Everywhere in long grass lurks the 'moquim,' a little red insect, so small as to be almost imperceptible, but which fastens on the legs, causing the most intolerable itching.

Good find! Thanks a lot. I Googled, but I didn't do the "books" version.

I'm here to help out with Nessmuk.

I'm a moderator on a forum that has a lot of users interested in his writings. I just started a thread to see if anyone has the 1920 translation.

The gill is still used in the UK as the standard measure for serving spirits in pubs. A standard "single" spirit measure is 1/6th gill in England, (but 1/5th gill in Scotland!).

The gill is a quarter of a pint in both the UK and US; it's the size of the pint which differs.

Jbenny,

Nessmuk’s Woodcraft has recently appeared here:

http://www.zianet.com/jgray/nessmuk/woodcraft/title_page.html

in html, under a creative commons licence.

Jbenny,

Nessmuk’s Woodcraft has recently appeared here:

http://www.zianet.com/jgray/nessmuk/woodcraft/title_page.html

in html, under a creative commons licence.And also in ePub, Mobipoket, Plucker, Palm doc, and text: http://www.zianet.com/jgray/
______
Dennis

And has recently appeared in Project Gutenberg, without illustrations, as a text file:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/24579

(so not as good as the zianet illustrated versions).

Has this project moved forward or been supplanted?

I would love to see the other two Nessmuk books - "Canoeing the Adirondacks with Nessmuk" and his book of poetry. Inventor of ultra-light camping. He'd have loved some of the toys we have today.

exreader

I believe that JBenny is currently busy with other things. But he hasn't said that he is giving up, so I imagine that the project is still in the pipeline.
If he tells us that he is currently too busy, then I'm certainly prepared to have a go, especially since an html source is now available.

I believe that JBenny is currently busy with other things. But he hasn't said that he is giving up, so I imagine that the project is still in the pipeline.
If he tells us that he is currently too busy, then I'm certainly prepared to have a go, especially since an html source is now available.

good to know :)

exreader

There is nothing for me to do. You can get the ebook in several formats from the website mentioned. BTW, I had a hand in that, which is why I didn't post the ebook here. As for the book of poetry and the Adirondack Letters, they will probably be done eventually as a colaborative effort.

Edit: If you simply must have a copy posted here, I can upload the Mobipocket version. Let me know if this is desired.

I would love to see the other two Nessmuk books - "Canoeing the Adirondacks with Nessmuk" and his book of poetry.
exreader

"Canoeing the Adirondacks" is a copyrighted book, which is based on Nessmuk's Adirondack Letters, as published in "Forest and Stream". The letters can be made into a free ebook. The copyrighted book cannot.

jbenny,

From a search of "moquim insect" at books.google.com

1st book result : Chambers's Edinburgh journal, conducted by W. Chambers. - Page 458

Everywhere in long grass lurks the 'moquim,' a little red insect, so small as to be almost imperceptible, but which fastens on the legs, causing the most intolerable itching.
In which case, the modern equivalent is likely to be "chigger".

If he tells us that he is currently too busy, then I'm certainly prepared to have a go, especially since an html source is now available.

If you decide to create your own derivative work, make sure you abide by the Creative Commons license. Particularly the "attribution" part. The plain text version is PD, not CC.

In which case, the modern equivalent is likely to be "chigger".

Yes, that would be the modern vernacular equivalent. However, I don't know for sure if the two are the exact same insect or not.

If you decide to create your own derivative work, make sure you abide by the Creative Commons license. Particularly the "attribution" part. The plain text version is PD, not CC.I believe the plain text version on PG was supplied by the chap who has the illustrated version on his website. He mentioned intention to do so in email.

Incidentally, he stops by MobileRead on occasion.
______
Dennis

The chap who did "Woodcraft by Nessmuk" is now working on _Forest Runes_, Nessmuk's poetry collection. You can find it here: http://www.zianet.com/jgray/nessmuk/forest_runes/title_page.html

It's not complete: poetry is more work to convert and format, and he's putting up pages as he completes them. Ebooks will be posted when he's got it completely done.
______
Dennis

The chap who did "Woodcraft by Nessmuk" is now working on _Forest Runes_, Nessmuk's poetry collection. You can find it here: http://www.zianet.com/jgray/nessmuk/forest_runes/title_page.html

It's not complete: poetry is more work to convert and format, and he's putting up pages as he completes them. Ebooks will be posted when he's got it completely done.
______
Dennis

very cool - thanx for the pointer.

exreader

An assortment of books about woodcraft, camping and wildlife have appeared on The Internet Archive:

The American Boys' Book of Bugs, Butterflies and Beetles (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1915), by Daniel Carter Beard (multiple formats at archive.org)
The American Boys' Book of Signs, Signals and Symbols (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Co., c1918), by Daniel Carter Beard (multiple formats at archive.org)
The American Boys' Handybook of Camp-Lore and Woodcraft (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Co., c1920), by Daniel Carter Beard (multiple formats at archive.org)
Dan Beard's Animal Book and Camp-Fire Stories (new and enlarged edition; Chicago: M. A. Donohue and Co., 1910), by Daniel Carter Beard (multiple formats at archive.org)