“Iconology of the Hermit Cards” is an article by Dr. Robert O’Neill that traces the depiction of the hermit in the tarot as preliminary to identifying its meaning. URL: http://att.tarot.com/about-tarot/library/boneill/hermit.
Hermits in Art: German print
In the picture collection of the New York Public Library is a German-language print: a juvenile rhyme about the owl, cleverly depicted in the picture as a hermit with monkish habit and staff, emerging from his hermitage. URL: http://digital.nypl.org/mmpco/browseresults.cfm?&trg=3&name=NBott%2C%20C%2E&strucID=459950&pstrucid=409758&title=Vom%20Uhu%2E&dstart=1.
Adirondack hermit: Noah John Rondeau
Noah John Rondeau (1883-1967) was known as the Adirondack hermit. He lived in a wilderness area of Cold River, New York, dubbing his hermitage Cold River City (population 1) and himself as mayor. Rondeau began staying in his hermitage even over the harsh winters after 1929. He was forced to move after a 1950 storm leveled much of the forest around his hermitage. Some details about Rondeau are offered on the “Adirondack Lives” web site: http://www.adirondackhistory.org/newadklives/ and at http://www.adirondack-park.net/history/noah.john.rondeau.html). The first link has good photos. There are also two books on Rondeau: Noah John Rondeau, Adirondack Hermit by Maitland C. DeSormo and Life With Noah: Stories and Adventures of Richard Smith with Noah John Rondeau as told to William J. O
Hermit’s hut dissertation
The Hermit’s Hut: a Study in Asceticism and Architecture by Kazi Khaleed Ashraf is a 2002 dissertation from the University of Pennsylvania. A preview is available on the Web; the dissertation itself can be purchased. The first sentence of the abstract begins: “The ascetic’s dwelling forms a distinctive genre among various meditations on the elemental hut …” The focus is India. URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/preview_all/3043847.
Le Recours aux forêts
The French-language web site Le Recours aux forêts offers articles on the philosophy of forests, the art of making a forest cabin (i.e., hermit hut), about tree houses and wilderness shelters, vagabonding, Thoreau, Ernest Junger and much more. URL: http://www.lerecoursauxforets.org. Thanks to a friend of Hermitary for pointing out this interesting site.