SIUE Digital Exhibit "Rivers of America" Displays Regional Portrait of America
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Library and Information Services (LIS) is featuring a new digital exhibit that describes and celebrates the Rivers of America series of books. The series was one of the most successful publishing ventures of the 20th century.
“The series adapted a fine press printing aesthetic to a mass market product,” said Matthew Paris, education librarian at SIUE. “Each volume includes original maps and illustrations. The original editor ensured the text matched the innovative design by recruiting authors from the fields of journalism, botany, history and biography.”
Constance Lindsay Skinner envisioned the Rivers of America series in 1935. From 1937 through 1974, the series grew to include 65 titles. The books combine geography, history and folklore to produce a regionalist portrait of America.
“Skinner wanted the books to influence the minds of the readers the way the landscape shaped the lives of its inhabitants,” said Paris. “She hoped that contemporary readers would appreciate their experience of the natural world and connect that experience to regional history.”
The Rivers of America book series was published by Farrar & Rinehart, and its corporate successors, Rinehart & Co., and Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
View the Rivers of America digital exhibit here.
