Maine Beautiful

by Wallace Nutting

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 2005

About the author

Wallace Nutting was a U.S. minister, photographer, artist, and antiquarian, who is most famous for his pictures. He also was an accomplished author, lecturer, furniture maker — some of whose reproductions pass as antiques — antiques expert and collector. His atmospheric photographs helped spur the Colonial Revival style.
He was born in Rockbottom, Massachusetts, on Sunday, November 17, 1861. He was descended from John Nutting, who came from England in 1639 and was killed by Indians during a raid against Groton, Massachusetts. The Indians severed John Nutting's head and put it on a pole to discourage others from settling in the area.
Wallace Nutting studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard University, Hartford Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary. He graduated from Harvard with the class of 1887. On June 5, 1888 he married Mariet Griswold in Buckland, Massachusetts. They had no children.
Wallace Nutting started taking pictures in 1899 while on long bicycle rides in the countryside. In 1904 he opened the Wallace Nutting Art Prints Studio on East 23rd Street in New York. After a year he moved his business to a farm in Southbury, Connecticut. He called this place "Nuttinghame". In 1912 he moved the photography studio to Framingham, Massachusetts, in a home he called "Nuttingholme". Nutting authored several books about the scenic beauties of New England, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. In the peak of his business he employed about two-hundred colorists. By his own account, Wallace Nutting sold ten million pictures. Wallace Nutting's colorists painted the photographs which he took. These colorists would sometimes sign Wallace Nutting's name on the photos which is why the signatures vary. An interesting fact about Nutting's photography is that he was more prolific with pastoral scenes, consequently his interiors are more valuable.
Wallace Nutting died at his home at 24 Vernon St., Framingham, Massachusetts on Saturday, July 19, 1941, at age 79. The body was taken to Augusta, Maine for burial.

Reviews

[Nell · Rating 1 out of 5]

One star for nostalgia. Just too dated: the style florid, a bit pompous, even rambling, the photos black and white and fuzzy. Perhaps charming in a few places, such as when Nutting warns the prospective tourist not to be deterred by the poor state of the roads, but I didn't have the patience to wade through and find many gems. I'm thankful the state still is Maine Beautiful and that I can see it without Nutting as intermediary.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertainingly dated offering of what a traveler or tourist might expect to encounter in Maine, before bridges and paved back roads eased the journey. The photos are all black and white and, due to their vintage and printing methods, of such poor resolution that it was often hard to see more than a very vague idea of the scene. The writing, however, was droll and personal, improving as the author gets further into his project. By all means, this book will help put you to sleep, so recommended as a bed-side book.

[Benjamin Barr,]

This was an interesting book with a lot of good pictures in it. The author got philosophical at times. Nutting also described the beautiful landscape of Maine's various regions. But as I began to read this book, I noticed that some of the descriptions were talking about remote areas and unpaved roads where I knew there to be roads. It was then that I looked at the copyright date: 1924. So this was really a nice step back in time; and even then, Nutting was going back to some of the early history of Maine.