The Snow Leopard

Peter Matthiessen recounts a 1973 trek across the Himalaya into Dolpo with the field biologist George Schaller, whose aim is to study the bharal, or blue sheep, on the slopes of Crystal Mountain. Matthiessen walks as a recent widower, using the trail, Buddhist shrines, and the chance of glimpsing the elusive snow leopard as a way to think about grief, attachment, and attention. Sherpas, weather, and high passes are recorded day by day. The book is a travel narrative and spiritual journal, not a zoological monograph.

Bound in printed, blocked and spot-varnished brown cloth. 20 pages of colour plates. Map endpapers printed dark brown on light brown. Dark green slipcase.