Throughout its history, the Berkshire County Historical Society has periodically published books and magazines that relate to the history of Herman Melville and Berkshire County History. Subjects range from poetry written at Arrowhead, to a cookbook of 19th century recipes that includes local writers’ thoughts on food, to a biography of Herman Melville that emphasizes the importance of the Berkshire landscape and Arrowhead in his writing.
Many titles are available through our online shop or in person at Arrowhead’s museum store. “Berkshire History,” which features scholarly articles, is available through our online archive.
NEW 2026 TITLE –Ye Trodden Path
By Bernard Drew, Gary Leveille, Rob Hoogs, Ron Bernard, and Tom Ragusa
Published in 2026 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Henry Knox’s epic 300 journey from Fort Ticonderoga, New York, to Boston, Massachusetts, delivering artillery to General George Washington to defeat British troops surrounding the city. The book looks specifically at the sections of the Knox Trail that traversed the hills and valleys of the Berkshires and includes new scholarship by several historians that adds to and corrects previous accounts of the Noble Train of Artillery. Ye Trodden Path details the road’s use before Knox came through, the taverns and people along the way, and how the road has been re-mapped through some of the towns providing a more precise route.
The 56 page book includes a a six-foot, color fold-out map considered the definitive route taken by Knox as researched by Tom Ragusa.
Funding for the project was provided by The Feigenbaum Foundation, Berkshire County Historical Society, and Housatonic Heritage. [I CAN LINK TO THEIR WEBSITES IF YOU WANT]
I Will Never Forget… Memoir of a B-26 Pilot
By Arthur “Artie” Artig
Artig tells of his experience during and following his service as an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. The B-26 Marauder was a medium bomber with an attitude. Fast, powerful, and hard to fly, it was one of the tools used to defeat the Nazis. Lt. Artie Artig, born in the Bronx, NY to a Jewish immigrant family, flew the B-26 in combat during World War II and lived to tell the tale. After the war, Artig tried to find work with airlines but was rejected because he was Jewish. His memoirs, originally intended for his sons, help us all understand our history.
Berkshire Victuals
Edited by J. Peter Bergman, 2019
First published in 1993, Berkshire Victuals (Janet Cook, ed.) has been revised with additional recipes and notes. This edition contains a full index of the recipes. Contributors include Marge Champion, Roselle Chartock, Carole Owens, Paul Metcalf and former Pittsfield Mayor Anne Everest Wojtkowski. Quotes from the writings of Herman Melville, William Cullen Bryant, Edith Wharton, and Nathaniel Hawthorne pepper the pages. Additional recipes from the 1928 “Busy Bees” of Pittsfield, women of the board of the House of Mercy hospital, are included.
The Power of Place
By Marianna Poutasse
Author Marianna Poutasse drew on the latest scholarship for this concise and affordable biography of Herman Melville. Lavishly illustrated with period photographs and drawings, Power of Place discusses Melville’s long life with an emphasis on the importance of Arrowhead to his life and writing as well as the place he loved the best: the Berkshires.
I and My Chimney
By Herman Melville
Herman Melville’s humorous short story, “I and My Chimney,” published in Putnam’s Monthly Magazine in 1856, is based on the huge chimney at Arrowhead (though the plot is fictional). In honor of Herman’s writing his brother, Allen Melville, printed selections from “I and My Chimney” on the chimney at Arrowhead, which can still be viewed today. This edition includes an updated introduction written in 2012.
Weeds and Wildings Chiefly: With a Rose or Two
Edited by J. Peter Bergman
Weeds and Wildings, chiefly: With a Rose or Two is a comprehensive collection of Herman Melville’s last poetry and short fiction – principally written during the final years of his life. It is Melville at his most romantic, sentimental and autobiographic. This book let him return in memory to his years at Arrowhead. It is his final work, dedicated to his wife Elizabeth Shaw Melville. It Includes a glossary, introduction, and biographical notes. Cover etching courtesy of Claire Illouz.
Red Barn Poetry Series
Red Barn is a booklet showcasing the new poetry produced by members of the Arrowhead Poetry Workshops from 2014-2017.
Maids in the Mills
By J. Peter Bergman
“Maids in the Mills,” was written and first performed in Pittsfield in 2004. It tells the stories of immigrant women from Ireland and Poland who came to Pittsfield to work in the woolen mills. It explores their difficult relationships with women overseers from Vermont and the eventual establishment of a major labor union. The play was revived at Arrowhead in 2014. This edition is illustrated with photos from two productions and is available as a working script.
Colonel Ephraim Williams: A Documentary Life
By Wyllis E. Wright
Ephraim Williams led a life filled with adventure. Dying in battle in 1755 during the French and Indian War, Williams’ name has lived on. Williamstown is the home of Williams College, started with his bequest. Based on original documents, this book is a fascinating look at life on 18th century frontier.