An Adventurous Woman Abroad: The Selected Lantern Slides of Mary T.S. Schaffer

by Michale Lang

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, travelling within North American borders or beyond to exotic locations was difficult at best and disastrous at worst. Mary Schäffer, born into a Pennsylvania-based Quaker family in 1861, not only conquered international travel but also excelled as an explorer, surveyor and photographer in the backcountry of Canada's Rocky Mountains and the isolated communities of Japan and Formosa (now Taiwan).Michale Lang's new book features more than 200 of Mary Schäffer's colourful, hand-painted lantern slides from the archives of the Whyte Musem of the Canadian Rockies. These unique works of art detail some of the indigenous people and breathtaking landscapes of the Rocky Mountains, along with tribal communities of Japan and Formosa. Schäffer's writing, Michale Lang's accompanying narrative and the book's overall design (inspired by the work of Barbara Hodgson, author and designer of The Tattooed Map, No Place for a Lady and Opium) opens a unique window on the Victorian obsession with international travel and discovery.

Genres: History

276 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2011

Reviews

[Marjorie]

The pictures are wonderful and show her skill as an artist. I read her books about her travels in the Rockies many years ago. Reading this book has sent me to the bookstore to order those two books to re-read. Her writing is outstanding and makes an ordinary event either funny or tense. Whatever the situation the reader feels she/he is on the trail and in the saddle beside Mary. How different things are today when we enter these mountains with our big rigs equipped with all the comforts of home and phones to summon help for the slightest slip. At the turn of the last century riding in the mountains was an adventure.

[Yasmin]

A very interesting addition to the life of Mary Schaffer Warren. The pictures Mary Schaffer took of her travels was a wonderful contribution even the coloured ones. Altho' by the tone of fatalism Mary Schaffer had of the world's indigenous peoples at the time she didn't make it sound like a loss but a ho hum reaction instead as this the price of progress but must be paid. But back then people viewed all prices must be paid for progress. Fortunately in modern times not all wish to pay the price for progress. Hopefully Mary Schaffer could look back on her life before she died and realised no one is a savage or we are all savages. However her opinions on people she did make remarkable journies then and still can be seen as such even if you were to bring it into a modern equation, but then she would probably take a lot of modern equipment and perhaps it wouldn't seem as great. Without her we wouldn't know so much about the Rockies and it may have taken longer before some other botanist looked to add Maligne lake to the maps. I don't say discovered because the First Nations knew where it was and had a name for it so it never went missing before a party of white people went to locate its position.

[Audrey]

My librarian grabbed this book off the shelf and said, "This is something you should read", after all she knows me quite well by now. I am inspired! This this Quaker woman from the 1800's decided she wanted to travel and so she proceeded to do so. At first she was rather cautious about getting out of her comfort zone but eventually she became more and more daring. She travelled extensively in the Canadian Rockies often roughing it. Many of her photos and writings are included in the book. I haven't reached the part yet of her travels overseas yet, but I'm sure they will be good as well. I can't help but think "If she could do it, why can't I?"