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June's Book of the Month is Benson John Lossing's The Hudson, from the Wilderness to the Sea. New York: Virtue and Yorston, 1866

June is traditionally the beginning of the travel season in the Northeast. The sun comes out, the temperature warms up, and the flowers are in full bloom. The famous vacation spots in New York state were made possible by the development of transportation methods. 1810-1820 was the heyday of steamboat travel, particularly on the St. Lawrence River. 1820-1830 saw the rise of canal traffic, especially with the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, linking Buffalo to Albany and points east. The early 1840s witnessed the beginning of local railway lines, culminating in the New York Central Railroad system, finished in 1852. Such grand vacation places as Niagara Falls, Alexandria Bay, and Saratoga Springs became the destination of thousands of New Yorkers looking for a scenic view or a taste of the fashionable life.

Benson John Lossing was born in Beekman, New York, in 1813. In 1835 he founded a literary journal called The Poughkeepsie Casket, which he edited and illustrated with wood engravings, an art form that he was to become famous for. Other magazines he was associated with include Family Magazine, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, and the London Art Journal. It was for this last periodical publication that he wrote and illustrated a series of articles on the scenery, history, and legends of the Hudson River Valley. These articles and illustrations were then collected and published in 1866 as The Hudson, from the Wilderness to the Sea. Lossing died at Dover Plains, New York, in 1891. The Special Collections Research Center of the Syracuse University Library houses an interesting and varied collection of New York guidebooks from the Nineteenth Century. Most of these are illustrated with wood engravings, early photographs, and maps. Through them it is possible to glimpse New Yorkers as they travel on the new and exciting modes of transportation: steamboats through the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence River; canal boats as far as the great Niagara Falls; railway cars to the fashionable resorts of Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa. By the end of the century, all of New York state was accessible for vacation and travel.

The Book of the Month is curated by Kenneth Lavender, Rare Book Librarian.