The Elderberry Tree (inscribed to Washington State Governor/U.S. Senator Daniel J. Evans)
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1964. First edition. Hardcover. Inscribed on the half-title page in a blue cursive: "To Governor Daniel J. Evans and family, with all best wishes, Irving Petite." Uncommon signed. With Evans ex-libris bookplate on the blue front free endpaper. Evans was the Governor of Washington State from 1965 to 1977, afterward the president of Evergreen State College in Olympia, and eventually a US Senator. Known as the "Issaquah Thoreau" and one of the Pacific Northwest's standout place-based writers, Petite is perhaps best known for his book Mr. B about an orphaned bear cub in his care. This is his second book. From the jacket: "When Mr. Petite built a cabin on the ranch he acquired some years ago in the Cascade Mountain foothills of western Washington, there was no roof at first, but there was an elderberry tree in the front yard--a large tree whose continued blooming and tough, enduring tap root came to symbolize man's constant hope and determination. The tree also served as haven, feeding station, and playground for all manner of wildlife--large, small, and winged--and in these pages Mr. Petitet tells of their ways and of the man valuable things he has learned from them." See also his Seattle Times obit, a paper he wrote for. A nice Washington State and environmental association, as Evans, influenced by his time in the Cascades, was a major promotor of wilderness and supported the creations of North Cascades National Park and Alpine Lakes Wilderness. As Senator he sponsored the million-acre Washington Park Wilderness Act and the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The Olympic Wilderness in the Olympic National Park was renamed the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness in his honor. Octavo in blue cloth boards with gilt lettering to spine. With illustrations by his wife Jean W. Petite. Very near fine with the barest hint of rubbing to corners and spine ends. In a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with faint sunning to spine, bolder toning/sunning to flap edges, light rubbing, and a few scratches to the rear panel and one short tear to the top edge. Item #2235
Price: $750.00 save 5% $712.50