Why a sale?
When I left the North in the 1980s, I donated a slew of books to the GNWT Library Service. I owed them for their incredible kindness in chartering a plane and bringing 65 books to my cabin the winter of 75-76, but that is another story. I kept the best reads and accumulated several more books while living in the Twin Cities. My Vanlife mode of living is not conducive to maintaining a library, so I am selling off my remaining books, most of which have been stored for decades. It’s a better idea to put them in your hands and through your eyes.
I will be in MN all of September and the first half of October, so I might be able to drop off books to locals - no postage. But I leave for Colorado in late October, and any book orders that come in late will need to wait until April.
Some of these books are absolutely fascinating reading, many are out of print, some are signed by the author, and some are rare.
How to buy
Here’s the deal. The following is a list of books that are available to you, followed by photos of the books’ covers.
Here’s how it works. If you see a title, you would like to own, shoot me an e-mail at rob@robkesselring.com with what you want and what you are willing to pay. If it’s a fair price and higher than anyone else, I will bill you on Paypal and send you the books Media Mail. USPS postage is crazy and Canadian Post is insane, so I will need to charge you for a box and postage. Ten dollars for the first book and a buck for each additional book. Canadians, I will need to get an estimate first. I lose money on every Merlyn Carter Bush Pilot book I send to Canada, as I wrote Canada Post, is insane.
The early bird gets the worm.
Northern Books 1 Plate A
- Operation Morning Light, the true story of Canada's nuclear nightmare
- by Leo Heaps, paperback, 194 pages, fair condition
- SOLD Fatal Passage, the untold story of John Ray who discovered the fate of Franklin
- by Ken McGoogan, hard back, 325 pages, very good condition
- As long as this land shall last
- by Rene Fumoleau, paperback, 415 pages, good condition
- The Fur Trade in Canada
- by Harold A Innis, paperback, 463 pages, good condition
- Barren Lands, an epic search for diamonds in the north American arctic
- by Kevin Krajick, hardback, 441 pages, good condition
- The Hudson Bay Company Autumn and Winter Catalogue 1910-1911
- catalog reprint, paper back, 254 pages, fair condition
- Paddling the Boreal Forest
- by Max Finkelstein and James Stone, paperback, 320 pages, very good condition
- The Indians of the Subarctic a critical bibliography
- by June Helm, 91 pages, good condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 1 Plate B
- Distant Fires
- by Scott Anderson, paper back, 157 pages, very good condition
- The Caribou
- by J. P. Kellsall, paperback, 330 pages, fair condition
- The Arctic Fox, bush pilot of the north country
- by Don C Braun with John C Warren, paperback, 241 pages, very good condition
- True North, exploring the great wilderness by bush plane
- by George Erickson, paperback, 306 pages, very good condition
- Trapping is my life
- by John Tetso, paperback, 115 pages, fair condition
- Igloo Dwellers were my church
- by John R Sperry, signed by author, paperback, 174 pages, excellent condition
- One Man's Wilderness, an Alaskan odyssey
- by Sam Keith from the journals and photographs of Richard Proenneke, paperback, 220 pages, excellent condition
- Nahanni the river guide
- by Peter Jowett, paperback, 224 pages, fair condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 1 Plate C
- Bloody Falls of the Coppermine, madness and murder in the arctic barren lands
- by McKay Jenkins, paperback, 280 pages, fair condition
- Running with the Caribou
- by Pete Sarsfield, M.D., paperback, 209 pages, good condition
- The Legend of John Hornby
- by George Whalley, paperback, 370 pages, fair condition
- Across the Sub-arctics of Canada, A Journey of 3200 miles by canoe and snowshoe through the barren lands, 1898
- by J. W. Tyrrell, paperback, 280 pages good, condition
- I Ingstads fotspor, på villmarkstur i Canada
- av Sverre Hovind, signed by author, in Norwegian, hardback, 223 pages, excellent condition
- Nahanni, river of gold... river of dreams
- by R Neil Hartling, soft cover, 135 pages, very good condition
- The North Woods, the American wilderness
- Time Life Books, hard cover, 184 pages, excellent condition
- The Book of the Dene
- GNWT, hardcover, 80 pages, very good condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 1 Plate D
- How Indians use Wild Plants for Food Medicine and Crafts
- by Frances Densmore, paperback, 400 pages, good condition
- Mackenzie River Basin study report, 1981
- Mackenzie River Basin Committee, soft cover, 232 pages
- The North, studies in Canadian geography
- Edited by William C Wonders, paperback, 150 pages
- Prospecting in Canada, fourth edition
- by A. H. Lang, hard cover, 310 pages, very good condition
- Arctic Adventures, exploring canada's north by canoe and dog team
- by Ian and Sally Wilson, paperback, 246 pages excellent condition
- This book is duplicated on Plate E, there are not two copies
- The Arctic by Canoe
- Robert Hood Houston hard cover, 220 pages, very good condition
- The Athapaskans: Strangers of the North
- paperback, 208 pages, barely fair condition
- The Great Fur Land, or sketches of life in the Hudson Bay territory, 1879
- by H. M. Robinson, paperback, 348 pages, very good condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 1 Plate E
- The Dogrib Hand Game, Bulletin 205, National Museum of Canada, 1966
- by June Helm and Nancy Oestreich Lurie with Gertrude Kurath on Dogrib Choreography and Music, hardback, 101 pages, excellent condition
- The Lynx Point People: the dynamics of a northern athapaskan band, Bulletin 176, 1961
- by June Helm, hardback, 191 pages, excellent condition
- This Land is not for Sale
- by Hugh and Karmel McCullum, soft cover, 205 pages, fair condition
- The Exploration of Northern Canada, 500 to 1920, a chronology, first edition
- by Alan Cooke and Clive Holland, signed by author, hard back, 547 pages, rare book excellent condition
- Arctic Adventures, exploring canada's north by canoe and dog team
- by Ian and Sally Wilson, paperback, 246 pages excellent condition
- This book is duplicated on Plate D, there are not two copies
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 1 Not pictured
- This Land was Theirs: a study of North American Indians, third edition
- by Wendell Oswalt, hardback, 566 pages, good condition
- The Canadian Shield
- Barbara Moon, hardback, 160 pages, fair condition
- The Norwesters
- by Marjorie Campbell, hardback, 128 pages, fair condition
- Northwest to the Sea, a biography of William McGillivray
- by Marjorie Campbell, hardback, 230 pages, excellent condition
Northern Books 2 Plate A
- Commercial Fisherman's Guide
- Saskatchewan Department of natural resources, soft cover, 40 pages, good condition
- The Northland, Studies of the Yukon in Northwest Territories
- by John Wolfforth, soft cover, 128 pages, very good condition
- The Dangerous River
- by RM Patterson, hardcover, 272 pages, very good condition
- Raw North
- by Charles E Gillham, hardcover, 271 pages, good condition
- Stories of the Spirit Stories of the Heart, Parables of the Spiritual Path from Around the World
- edited by Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield, softcover, 396 pages, very good condition
- SOLD Jack London Stories
- hardcover, 530 pages, good condition
- David Thompson, Travels in Western North America 1784 to 1812
- edited by Victor G Hopwood, softcover, 342 pages, good condition
- The Fur Trade and the Northwest to 1857
- by E. E. Rich, hardback, 337 pages, very good condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 2 Plate B
- Far North
- by Will Hobbs, softcover, 216 pages, good condition
- SOLD The Indian Crafts of William and Mary Commanda
- by David Gidmark, paperback, 144 pages, good condition
- Hunters in the Barrens: The Naskapi on the Edge of the white Man's World
- by Georg Henriksen, hardback, 130 pages, very good condition
- The Kazan: Journey into an Emerging Land, from the Northern Heritage Series: People & Places
- edited by David F Pelly and Christopher C Harris, soft cover, 135 pages, very good condition
- Northern Tales: Stories from the Native Peoples of the Arctic and Subarctic Regions
- by Howard Norman, softcover, 340 pages, excellent condition
- The Past and Future Land
- by Martin O'Malley, softcover, 280 pages, good condition
- Ada Blackjack: a true story of survival in the arctic
- by Jennifer Nevin, 430 pages, soft cover, very good condition
- Ice: stories of survival from polar exploration
- edited by Clint Willis, 375 pages, soft cover, good condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 2 Plate C
- A Death in the Barrens
- by George Grinnell, soft cover, 179 pages, excellent condition
- The Incredible Eskimo: life among the barren land Eskimo
- by Raymond de Coccola and Paul King, paperback, 435 pages, good condition
- Memoirs of an Arctic Arab: the story of a free trader in northern Canada the years 1907-1927
- by Peter Baker, paperback, 194 pages, good condition
- The Last Wilderness (Snowdrift River)
- by Peter Browning, soft cover, 115 pages, fair condition
- Hunters of the Arctic
- by Roger Frison-Roche, photographs by Pierre Tairraz, softcover, 258 pages, good condition
- The Arctic Prairies
- by Ernest Thompson Seton, paperback, 415 pages, good condition
- The Lonely Land
- by Sig Olson, hardback, 273 pages, excellent condition
- Hunters of the Northern Forest
- by Richard K Nelson, softcover, 336 pages, very good condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 2 Plate D
- Nahanni Trailhead, A year in the northern wilderness
- by Joanne Ronan Moore, soft cover, 294 pages, good condition
- SOLD The Land of Feast and Famine
- by Helge Ingstad, soft cover, 333 pages, very good condition
- Wilderness Seasons, Life and Adventure in Canada's North
- by Ian and Salley Wilson, soft cover, 208 pages, very good condition
- Trapline Twins
- by Julie & Miki Collins, paperback, 216 pages, good condition
- Fur Trade Canoe Routes / then and now
- by Eric W Morse, hard cover, 125 pages, very good condition
- SOLD Canoeing with the Cree
- by Eric Severeid, paperback, 205 pages, good condition
- The Northwest Company
- by Marjorie Wilkins Campell, paperback, 293 pages, good condition
- SOLD Discovering Eden, a lifetime of paddling arctic Rivers
- by Alex M Hall, soft cover, excellent condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 2 Plate E
- Firearms Traps and Tools of the Mountain Men
- by Russell, hard cover, 440 pages, very good condition
- Yellowknife
- by Ray Price, hard cover, 308 pages, fair condition
- Lost in the Barrens
- by Farley Mowat, paperback, 193 pages, good condition
- Arctic Adventure
- by Peter Freuchen, Hardcover, 468 pages, fair condition
- Freshwater Saga: memoirs of a lifetime of wilderness Canoeing in Canada
- by Eric W Morse, 192 pages, very good condition
- Ultimate North: Canoeing McKenzies great river-1700 miles from the Athabasca country to the Arctic Ocean
- by Robert Douglas Mead, hard cover, 312 pages, good condition
- Shadows on the Koyukuk, an Alaskan native's life along the river
- by Sidney Huntington as told to Jim Rearden, softcover, 232 pages
- Reindeer and Caribou Hunters, an archaeological study
- by Arthur F Spiess, hard cover, 306 pages, excellent condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 2 Not Pictured
- Tales from the igloo
- by Maurice Metayer, hardback, 125 pages, excellent condition
- Arctic Fever
- by Doug Wilkinson, hardback, 154 pages, good condition
- The Best Stories of Jack London
- Hardcover, 312 pages, good condition
- Sunrise on the MacKenzie
- by Dick Turner, RARE BOOK, Hardcover, 170 pages, excellent condition
- The Indian Tribes of Canada
- by Eileen Jenness, paperback, 121 pages, good condition
Northern Books 3 Plate A
- The Canadians
- Time-Life, hardcover, 235 pages, excellent condition
- Our Metis Heritage ...a portrayal
- by Joanne Overvold, hardcover, 153 pages, rare book excellent condition
- I’ve been here ever since... an informal oral history of Hay River
- by Eileen Collins, softcover, very good condition
- The Hare Indians and their World
- by Hiroko Sue Hara, softcover, 305 pages, good condition
- Fur Trade Posts of the Northwest Territories 1870-1970
- by Peter J. Usher, paperback, 178 pages, good condition
- People of the Trail: how the northern forest Indians lived
- by Robin & Jillian Ridington, hardcover, 41 pages, very good condition
- Lob trees in the Wilderness, the human and natural history of the Boundary Waters
- by Clifford Ahlgren and Isabel Ahlgren, paperback, 218 pages, excellent condition
- SOLD Denison’s Ice Road
- by Edith Ilauer, softcover, 238 pages, excellent condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 3 Plate B
- The First Americans
- Time-Life, hardcover, 150 pages, very good condition
- SOLD The Death of Albert Johnson - Mad trapper of the Rat River
- by Anderson, paperback, 52 pages, very good condition
- Wager with the Wind: the Don Sheldon story
- by James Greiner, hardback, 260 pages, good condition
- The Boundary Waters Wilderness Ecosystem
- by Miron Heinselman, soft cover, 324 pages, good condition
- The Voyageurs
- paperback, 24 pages, good condition
- The Fur Fort
- paperback, 24 pages, good condition
- Fishwheels and how to Build Them
- by Kathy Lynch, paperback, 43 pages, good condition
- Little Thumb (Slavey legends)
- by Eileen Hayward, about 40 pages, good condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 3 Plate C
- Alaskan Igloo Tales
- by Edward L Keithahn, paperback, 130 pages, good condition
- Indian Crafts and Lore
- by W. Ben Hunt, paperback, 104 pages, good condition
- Kawin A book of Indian crafts
- paperback, 64 pages, good condition
- Dene Traditional Life Series, Northwest Territories
- about a dozen sepia tone photographs, about 12x20, excellent condition
(Click the images below to open a larger view. The file is very large, it will take a little while to open.)
Northern Books 3 Not Pictured
- SOLD Polar Voyages: Explorers of the North
- by Rasky, hard cover, 309 pages, excellent condition
- Caribou in the Barren-lands
- by George Calef, hardcover, 170 pages, excellent condition
- The Mammals of Canada
- by A W F Banfield, hard cover, 431 pages, very good condition