New WCHA bibliography

Benson Gray

Canoe History Enthusiast
Staff member
Shrinking the WCHA's book store led to a suggestion that a bibliography might be nice with links to where you can learn more about these books, buy or download a copy. The page at https://wcha.org/Books.htm is a first pass which is clearly not comprehensive. This has also been configured so that the WCHA gets a small percentage if you click one of these links and then buy the book from Amazon. I encourage everyone to use this list before buying anything from Amazon. Rob Stevens has kindly sent a copy of his list to be added so let me know if anyone else has more or other ideas. Thanks,

Benson
 
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That's an excellent start and bravo for the related links.
Stelmoks book, Building the Maine Guide Canoe, is one that tends to get overlooked and yet it is unquestionably excellent.
As an acquantance and friend of Atwood, I would mention his book, Rushton and his Times in American Canoing. Say what you will about his lofting, his research and writing left us a comprehensive record.
I'll need to look my bookcases over to see what others there might be.
 
I find it interesting how few books there are on how to build a canvas/rib/plank canoe, and how late in time they are.

There appears to be nothing from the era of these canoes' greatest popularity—say, from 1890 to 1945. The 1895 book by Field & Chambers is a how-to-build book, but concerns what appears to be more of a skin (canvas) on frame kayak. The few other 19th century publications seem to be story/adventure books. Adney & Chapelle wasn't published until 1964 and focuses on the skin and bark predecessors of canvas/rib/plank construction.

Was Jerry Stelmok's 1980 book really the first to detail how to build what we now think of as the classic canvas-covered canoe with ribs and longitudinal planks?
 

Canoe and Boat Building: A Complete Manual For Amateurs

W.P. Stephens, 1885

 
Note that The Art of the Canoe with Joe Seliga is not available from Amazon itself but it is available through the Boundary Waters Journal site. This could be a huge list depending upon how you define books about wooden canoes. Is this just history and construction or the broader world of wooden canoes (See Travel Journals of Tappan Adney, and Nessmuk's Woodcraft) and related wooden boats (guideboats, kayaks, St. Lawrence skiffs, etc.)? And specific to North America? (see for example, Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of Northern Eurasia, by Luukkanen and Fitzhugh). I see that Jerry Dennis' book and the Ruth Phillips books, as examples, are on the list already so this suggests a broader scope.


Some others (some available from Amazon, but also available from other wooden-boat-related entities):

When the Chestnut was in Flower, Roger MacGregor, 1999 (source?)

Boats and Boating in the Adirondacks, Hallie Bond, 1998

Canoe and Canvas, Jessica Dunkin

Building an Adirondack Guidebook, John Michne

Guideboat Paddles: An Adirondack Treasure, Gordon Fisher

The Adirondack Guidebook, Kenneth and Helen Durand

Bark, Skin and Cedar, James Raffan

Canoeing the Adirondacks with Nessmuk, ed. Dan Brenan

Little Things that Matter, Roger Young
From the author, and other sites

Invention of the Board Canoe, Ken Brown

Building a Strip Canoe, Gil Gilpatrick
 
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this suggests a broader scope

I don't think that we need to limit this much. My inclination is to include anything that mentions a wooden canoe or similar small craft. This isn't intended to be a required reading list.

Benson
 
some of those books would cost a fortune to import!

You can save a lot of money if you are willing to limit yourself to ones published before the mid-1920s. Most of these can be downloaded at no cost. I was surprised to find that a few of the others like History on Birchbark: The Art of Toma Joseph, Passamoquoddy are also free.

Dans book about Northern NY builders.

I believe that this and Dick Persson's book aren't finished yet, unless you know something that I don't.

All of the other books mentioned here should be in place now so let me know if I have missed something. I'm still adding others. Fun stuff,

Benson
 
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I believe that this and Dick Persson's book aren't finished yet, unless you know something that I don't.

All of the other books mentioned here should be in place now so let me know if I have missed something. I'm still adding others. Fun stuff,

Benson
I do not. That was a total shot in the dark.
Dan is uniquely qualified to move the mark past where Atwood left it. I've been badgering him about it for years, much as I badger Andre about deck abominations. ;)
 
I do not. That was a total shot in the dark.
Dan is uniquely qualified to move the mark past where Atwood left it. I've been badgering him about it for years, much as I badger Andre about deck abominations. ;)
I need someone to send me on sabbatical. Sadly, I didn’t have room to bring my research files to Panamá this time. :D
 
I believe that everything from Rob Steven's list and a few others have been added to the 122 books listed at the link below. Let me know if anyone has any other additions or corrections to suggest. Thanks,

Benson


 
Neide, Dr. Charles A.: The Canoe Aurora: A Cruise from the Adirondacks to the Gulf

Wise, Ken C.: Cruise of the Blue Flujin
 
Sigurd Olson and Calvin Rutstrum wrote about the joys of canoeing and wilderness. I think both used wood canoes. Olson's canoe books are listed here:


At least one Rutstrum book is devoted to canoeing (not sure about all the others):


Since you're including kayak building, how about the definitive work on skin-on-frame baidarkas:

 
That reminds me... Calvin Rutstrum, "Back Country" is in part a documentary of his trip down the Berens River in NW Ontario.
 
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