Massachusetts Books

This series stands out from other hiking books for its organization and informational approach. Best feature: for each hike there is an elevation graph which displays a line which represents a cross-section of the trail. The line rises and falls with the elevation of the hike. This feature alone is worth the price of the book, as you can tell at a glance how steep your hike will be. The book also has a generous helping of maps and photos, and generous informational sidebars (where to eat, schedule, fees, surface, who owns the land, what other trail users you can expect, and more more more).

One of the best books of poetry written. As entertaining and reflective as it gets.

If you're a native of this state, this book would be fantastic as a coffee table book, or as part of a library's reference collection. At more than 150 oversized pages, replete with full-color illustrations, it contains vastly more information than one might anticipate. But this doesn't mean the book is confusing -- far from it.

This atlas is organized into two primary sections. First, there is "The Historical Landscape," which focuses mainly upon more hard-nosed ways of viewing the human experience. By this I mean that it deals with political and economic power, and how they were manifested, both in the colonial period and as part of the United States. I hasten to add that this section starts out with a terrific set of maps about the native American presence in Massachusetts, prior to Verrazano, and prior to the Pilgrims. Maps show specifically where the most ancient native settlements were located, shortly after the Ice Age. Moving forward, they help us see how local tribal groups divided up the state territory; they show locations of native villages and footpaths; and detail interactions between tribes and early traders and explorers. The rest of this section breaks up the colonial period via a variety of helpful, cartographic means, such as the spread of towns across the state, and depictions of colonial Boston in various stages. Next, it deals with Massachusetts after the industrial and American revolutions. Demographic trends are helpfully depicted pictorially, such as Boston's burgeoning growth over the decades; the spread of railroads; and the growing number of wage-earners statewide.

The second section of this useful tome tends more toward the "soft sciences," although it is somewhat equivocally entitled "The Political and Social Landscape." This part of the atlas includes chapters giving cartographic presentations of "Women and Society," "Ethnicity and Race," "Health and the Social Order," and "Architecture and the Built Environment." Subsequent chapters in this section focus on technological developments, such as communications, transportation, and energy, and how these issues have affected Massachusetts demographics. The book ends with an interesting little chapter on the Quabbin Reservoir, and its environmental and social impact.

Don't miss the terrific bibliography, in the section near the end called "Sources." There is a helpful statistical appendix also, giving various figures for each town, going up to 1995. The 1995 figures were projected (this book came out in 1991).

One of my personal favorite maps in this book is on page 5, where the authors helpfully present a breakdown of the origins of Massachusetts town names. We see that most are named after English towns, while quite a few take their names from early Puritan or American settlers. Native American place names are fairly well represented in town names (Mattapoisett, Seekonk, Agawam, Scituate, etc.) as, of course, in the name of our state.

This book is not only useful, it's also fascinating and fun. I'd recommend it to anyone... I've reviewed a lot of books on Amazon.com, and because I usually review what I like, I tend to give a lot of stars. This one makes me wish I was more cautious in my awarding of stars, so my five star ranking of this great book would mean more.

Volumes III and IV are available from The Jewett Family of America, Box 254, Rowley MA 01969 Contact Ted Herrmann, Publisher, at 201 569-6611 or Ted Loranz, V.P. at 508 429-8750. Library of Congress No. 95-81192. Original Volumes I and II were published in 1908.

Description: Two volumes, hard-bound with title stamped in gold. 1,758 pages, hundreds of illustrations, Jewett genealogical data concentrating on period 1908-1995, with newly assigned JFA numbers of family members. The alphabetically arranged INDEX covers every name found in BOTH volumes. There is some detail on the Norman origins of the Jewett name and some history of the Jewett Coat-of-Arms, including derivation, French roots in Jouatte, Jouett, Jowitt, etc. Also contains a copy of the orignal Charter of the Jewett Family of America from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1910.

Size 6-1/2 x 9-3/4" emulating the size and style of the first two volumes I and II by Dr. Frederick Clarke Jewett, printed in 1908. Endpaper illustrations include a map of the original Ezekiel Rogers plantation established at Rowley, MA in 1639; a Civil War political cartoon; pen and ink wash drawing by William Samuel Lyon Jewett of New York Harbor in 1871 entitled "Sail and Steam"; and a reproduction of original sheet music written for the first National JFA (Jewett Family of America) Reunion in 1855.

BOOK DESCRIPTION: A comprehensive history of the two towns. A reprint of the original of Merrill's 1880 publication. To the original edition, a portrait and a biography of Joseph Merrill has been added, written by Sara Locke Redford. Biographical data on many area residents has been made fully accessible via a complete index prepared by Teresa Castle, former Amesbury librarian.

The original 1880 edition was published by P.P. Stiles, Haverhill, MA, under the title "History of Amesbury, including the first seventeen years of Salisbury to the separation in 1654, and Merrimac from its incorporation in 1876.

Illustrated with black and white photographs. Includes an historical timeline of the history of Amesbury and map of the town.

An indispensable resource for genealogical studies due to the fine index added to the reprint edition.

The book was delivered in excellent condition, as described in the add. Delivery was fast. I would definately buy from this seller in the future.

Living in Virginia, I needed historical information on Lynn, Essex County, MA, for genealogical research purposes. I found the book, a new edition published in 1865 (an update to the 1844 initial publication), provided excellent historical background information regarding each location cited in the title of the book, a year-by-year highlight of the more significant events in each locale, biographical sketches, various tables (to include a list of surnames), and a health index. In all, 620 pages of information I would not have otherwise had but for the University of Michigan Historical Reprint Series.

These volumes provide for an excellent history of Martha's Vineyard. The books were well packaged. Although used, they were in excellent condition.

I have the original manuscript. Someone asked me about the source of the photos, which are xeroxed in the paper, but I don't know where I got them or where they are. This was a college dissertation so the original is a typed manuscript. (Hard to remember using a typewriter!)

Wayne

Brought back many good and fond memories. No more Indians, but at least there is hockey in Springfield.