How to Camp Out

A 19th-century camping manual that doubles as a time capsule of Victorian-era adventure. John Mead Gould, writing for young men heading into the wilderness, offers practical guidance on selecting a tent, building fires, cooking in the open air, and choosing the right boots. Much of his advice remains remarkably sound: the importance of dry matches, the virtue of a good knife, the art of making coffee over an open flame. Yet Gould also captures a vanished world where gentlemen carried dress shoes on hikes and 'ladies must be cared for more tenderly than men.' The result is both a useful period piece and a window into how Americans once understood the wilderness and their place in it. For modern campers, it's a curious pleasure: how little the fundamentals have changed, and how much everything else has.