I got my copy of the West Virginia Encyclopedia yesterday and I couldn't be more tickled. Of course I am not too happy that the mail woman left it sitting on top of my mail box. What part of “bound printed material” would lead one to believe that this cardboard box and contents would be safe out in the elements? Good thing it was a pretty day unlike most in the last few weeks.
Yes, getting this volume rained on would be a shame because it is a lovely book both inside and out. Cosmetically it is beautiful and reminds you of the way books used to be bound. It has a midnight blue, cloth cover with gold foil print on the spine and a dust jacket featuring a star pattern quilt. It is quite large at 8.5” x 11” and 944 pages thick. and just screams to be placed on one of Dan Pleska's dictionary stands.
As nice as the book is on its exterior it is the contents of this encyclopedia that really makes it a must have. The working slogan of the book was, “all there is to know about West Virginia.” Now being the picky malcontent that I am, I have found a few glaring omissions (like no WSAZ Mr. Cartoon entry) but by and large I would say that the slogan is a fact. The encyclopedia contains over 2,200 entries by over 600 contributors. Yours truly is among those 600 as is Cat Pleska from Mouth of the Holler. In addition to the exhaustive list of facts about the Mountain State the layout of the pages and the editing is of such quality to make the Encyclopedia Britannica proud. According to the West Virginia Humanities Council that produced this book, the project took nine years and over a million dollars to complete. Money and time very well spent.
The fact that this book is so nicely done is without a doubt because of Ken Sullivan the editor and executive director of the West Virginia Humanities Council. As some of our readers may know, Ken was the editor who guided Goldenseal to its place as the finest state sponsored folklife publication in the nation. While a graduate student studying folklore at Ohio State and before I moved to Charleston, I heard members of the folklore community praising Goldenseal as the “gold standard” of state folklore publications. Mr. Sullivan has brought the same level of quality to the West Virginia Encyclopedia with the assistance of Debby Sonis another Goldenseal alumna.
No home in West Virginia should be without this book. It is expensive at $45 but you get what you pay for and what is $45, but the cost of a video game. This book will still be worth $45 long after Travis gets bored of Grand Theft Auto VI. Beyond the proud homes of West Virginia anyone who has a love for Appalachia should own this encyclopedia. Since West Virginia is in the unique position of being the only state with all of its counties within the bounds of Appalachia, the West Virginia Encyclopedia is also an encyclopedia of Appalachia. And a darn nice one at that.