COOLIDGE, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS BREVOORT (1850-1926), American alpinist and writer on alpine subjects, was born on Aug. 28, 185o, near New York, and educated at St. Paul's school, Concord, New Hampshire, Elizabeth college, Guernsey and Exeter college, Oxford, where he became modern history tutor. From 188o to 1881 he was professor of English history at St. David's college, Lampeter, and from 1881 to 1885 modern history tutor at Magdalen college, Oxford. During the period 1883 to 1895 he was curate at South Hinksey, near Oxford. Climbing and alpine literature were always his main interests, and in 1909 he went to Switzerland, and settled at Grindelwald. His chief ascents were made, during vacations, between 1865 (Col du Geant) and 1898 (Ortler), and he made the first winter ascent of the Wetterhorn (1874) and the Schreckhorn (1879) His guide was the famous Christian Almer, and later Almer's son. Coolidge made altogether over a thousand ascents in the French, Swiss and Italian Alps, but the Dauphine was his favourite dis trict. His most notable books are Swiss Travel and Swiss Guide books (1889), and The Alps in Nature and History (1908) . He edited the first volume of Ball's Alpine Guide, and two issues of Murray's Handbook for Switzerland. He was the sole author of several volumes in the Climbers' Guide series, and contributed to the Encyclopedia Britannica. He died at Grindelwald on May 6,