The Geographer as Bibliophile

Much can be learned about the history of geography and geographers by examining personal papers and books, including handwritten notes, jottings, marginalia, letters, inscriptions, and signatures. This essay examines some of the book inscriptions, letters, and marginal notes on materials held in the author's own personal collection by the geographers Carl O. Sauer, J. Paul Goode, Ellen Churchill Semple, T. Griffith Taylor, and Oskar Spate. The writings discussed here help to humanize our views of these geographers and reveal hidden aspects of geographic history.