Catalogue: John Muir
MUIR, John (1838 - 1914)
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Picturesque California: The Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Slope, Illustrated with Etchings, Photographs, Wood Engravings, etc. by Eminent American Artists
[EDITED BY MUIR, WITH ESSAYS BY HIM]
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Two volumes. Published by J. Dewing Publishing Co., New York and San Franscisco
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1888 - Two massive volumes in original boards, half morocco with corners, black pebbled boards with gilt lettering and ornate designs. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Extensive etchings, engravings and photogravures by important Western artists including Thomas Moran, Frederic Remington, etc. Light wear to cloth, some scuffing and rubbing to leather, interiors solid with light toning, dampstaining area to edges of a few leaves at the front of first vol. VG
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Per Sierra Club Website: The original work was sold by subscription, distributed monthly in 30 parts. It was then sold as a set of ten books, then two. The combined work includes over 600 etchings, photogravures, and wood etchings, 700 additional illustrations in the text and 120 tinted plates. Muir edited the work and contributed six of the 26 essays, several of which were reprinted in Steep Trails. From the collection of Shawn Donnille, his sale PBA Galleries Nov 2023. Donnille is an environmental activist and well-known natural living proponent, the founder of Mountain Rose Herbs, a large organic products retailer.
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The last quarter of the 19th century was the peak of the Picturesque movement in America. See the discussion in the Anthology section regarding Picturesque America (1872-74).
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Thomas Moran (1837-1926) was an important Western artist of the Hudson River School of art. Moran was born in England, emigrating to the US with his family when he was seven years old. He was primarily known for his paintings but also mastered wood-engraving, etching and lithography. Moran became particularly well known when he accompanied Ferdinand Hayden on his first trip to Yellowstone (funded in part by Jay Gould, John Burroughs' boyhood friend) - his paintings of the area are considered a critical element in inspiring the creation of the NP in 1872. Photos from Moran's illustrations of the Grand Canyon are being posted to the Catalogue entry for Clarence Dutton's Tertiary History (1882 - Gov Pubs).
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The Mountains of California
[Photos]​
1913 - Ninth edition. First published 1894. "New and Enlarged Edition". Published by The Century Co. Inscribed and signed. With a single leaf of manuscript from the book.
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Tan cloth boards, somewhat discolored, with embossed decorations to front and spine. Ninth edition, dedicated to the memory of Muir's wife Louise Strenzel, who passed in 1905. Inscribed on ffe: "To Mr. J.E. Fries/With sincere regard/John Muir/March 1914". No other markings or foxing. Profusely illustrated with over 60 images, some photos. Some photos have light staining to margins, not impacting image. Housed in custom clamshell case.
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I found online a copy of a copy of typed letter (see photos) dated Jan 6, 1914 from Robert Underwood Johnson, Muir patron and publisher of The Century Co., which reads in its entirety: "My dear Muir: I want by this letter to introduce to you my good friends Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Fries of 1715 La Lora Avenue, Berkeley, California. They are Swedish-Americans, and I think you will find them very sympathetic. They are admirers of your writings and your work, but Mrs. Fries, like a good many nice people, has got the wrong twist in her brain in regard to Hetch Hetchy Valley. I rely on you to take it out. The Frieses have a highly(?) fine boy whom I call the Viking, who is interested in natural history. You need in California all the lovers of nature you can breed or import, and so I hope you will be good to this nice boy. He may some day have to fight for Yosemite Valley. Faithfully yours, Robert". [The last sentence of the letter is hand-written].
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A handwritten manuscript page from Mountains - acquired along with the copy Steep Trails below, and improperly attributed to My First Summer in the Sierra by the seller, is housed in the clamshell case housing the latter volume. It reads in its entirety: "out their immense arms in what would seem most extravagant gestures, there is a majesty + repose about them that precludes all possibility of the grotesque, or even picturesque, in their gen[eral] expressions. The main branches". The word "forms" is crossed out and replaced with "gen expressions".
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The full quote, from Chapter 8 of Mountains in the section describing Sugar Pine trees, is as follows: "No two are alike, even to the most inattentive observer; and, notwithstanding they are ever tossing out their immense arms in what might seem most extravagant gestures, there is a majesty and repose about them that precludes all possibility of the grotesque, or even picturesque, in their general expression. They are the priests of pines, and seem ever to be addressing the surrounding forest. The Yellow Pine is found growing with them on warm hillsides, and the White Silver Fir on cool northern slopes; but, noble as these are, the Sugar Pine is easily king, and spreads his arms above them in blessing while they rock and wave in sign of recognition. The main branches are sometimes found to be forty feet in length...."​
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Our National Parks
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1901 - First printing. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston. Inscribed to Sierra Club co-founder William D. Armes
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Inscribed on ffe: "To WIlliam D. Armas, with pleasant memories and good wishes for the New Year, John Muir, Martinez, January 1902." Per the copyright page, the book was published Nov 2001. Muir's farm was located in Martinez, CA. Very clean green buckram boards with minor bumping/rubbing to corners and spine ends. Gilt lettering to spine slightly faded but crisp. Embossed gilt illustration and title on cover bright and crisp. Upper edge of text block gilded. VG+
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William Dallam Armes was an organizer, co-founder, first secretary, and one of the nine original directors of the Sierra Club. In fact, he is described as: "The English professor who organized the Sierra Club's founding (John Muir was many things; organized was not one of them) and served as its first secretary" in a 5/28/2020 piece published by the Sierra Club's Colby Library. William Frederic Bade writes in Vol 2 of The Life and Letters of John Muir (1924 - see below) that in addition to Muir: "Among the men who deserve to be remembered in connection with the organization and early conservation activities of the Club were Warren Olney, Sr., and Professors Joseph LeConte, J.H. Senger, William Dallam Armes, and Cornelius Beach Bradley." (p. 215).
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About the time young LeConte was exploring the southern Sierra, two University of California professors, William Dallam Armes of the English Department and Joachim Henry Senger...were exploring ideas that would culminate in 1892 in the founding of the Sierra Club. Senger, as early as 1886, had called for the creation of a library in Yosemite to make available books, maps, itineraries, and notes on travels in the Sierra. His idea was expanded, and by 1890 students and professors at the university were discussing the possibility of forming a club. According to a later account by LeConte, the name Sierra Club was thought of at that time. Professor Senger discussed the idea in particular with his colleague Armes, who had already spoken to John Muir about the need for a defense association for the Sierra, and with Warren Olney, a prominent Oakland Attorney. [from an article by Ann Lage entitled "The Peaks and the Professors: University Names in the High Sierras" published in the Spring 2000 Chronicle of the University of California.]
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An indication of Muir's and Armes relationship and the importance of Armes' role in recruiting Muir to the Sierra Club cause comes in an exchange of letters. On May 15,1891, prior to the founding of the Club, Armes wrote to Muir: "I have spoken to a number of persons and feel sure that, if our dues are not made too high, we can open with a membership of twenty or twenty-five, enough for a nucleus. I have corresponded with the officers of the Alpine Club of Portland [see William Steel Mountains of Oregon (1890)], and they will do all in their power to help us...." Muir replied eleven days later: "My dear Mr. Armes, So go ahead with your Alpine Club + count me in as a hearty worker. I am going to start tomorrow for the Kings River Yosemite at 3 P.M. Can't you go with me." He then thanks Armes for having previously sent him a book.​
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Described by the Library of Congress as "a beautifully written portrait of some of the nation's great scenic wildernesses by their greatest defender; the book goes through a dozen printings and establishes Muir's reputation in the public mind." Dedicated: "To Charles Sprague Sargent, Steadfast Lover and Defender of our Country's Forests this Little Book is Affectionately Dedicated."
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[PAMPHLET]
Prevent the Destruction of the Yosemite Park
1908 - 32-page pamphlet opposing the bill to authorize the acquisition and damming of the Hetch-Hetchy Valley
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32-page pamphlet, the front page of which is a typewritten letter dated Jan 12, 1908, from John Muir "To the Members of Congress."
Above the title stamped in pink lettering is written "Write to your Congressman and Protest." Per the seller, BAL lists two other versions of the pamphlet, both with different titles and neither addressed to Congress - OCLC locates two other copies addressed to Congress, one with a different title and one without the aforementioned stamp above the title.
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Contains excerpts from editorials, letters, statements of support, a roughly 2,500-word essay about Hetch-Hetchy by Muir (the substance of which previously appeared in Century Magazine, Sierra Club Bulletin and the Outlook per a postscript), and 12 pages of photographs of the Valley. The last page of verbiage notes the views expressed in the pamphlet have been "indorsed" by the American Alpine Club, The Sierra Club of California, and the Appalachian Mountain Club of Boston among others. Muir's letter opens: "A question of national importance has arisen upon which everyone should be informed before it is too late. Our great national parks, Nature's wonderlands, reserved as places of rest and recreation for everybody, are now in danger of being destroyed." It ends: "In behalf of all who appreciate the grandeur and majesty of our great mountain parks and who believe that they should be preserved in pure wilderness, I urge you to oppose this unnecessary and destructive water scheme."
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Our National Parks
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1909 - New and enlarged edition. First published 1901. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston.
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Blue boards, with a very elaborate and beautiful multi-hued painted image from Yosemite along with intricate gilt decorations embossed on front cover. Excellent condition - unmarked and unfoxed. Overall, a gorgeous book. Contains added illustrations, a two-page map with index and appendices not contained in original edition. A publisher's note attributes the appendices, which contains detailed info on the park system, and the map, to a Mr. Allen Chamberlain - almost certainly the former head of the Appalachian Mountain Club and prolific journalist who was highly influential in the passage of the Weeks Act of 1911, which permitted the purchase of forest reserves by the federal government and led to the protection of the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
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Stickeen; The Story of a Dog
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1909 - First printing, with year on title page. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston.
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Brown boards, lightly soiled. With original dj in poor condition - parts of dj spine and top of cover missing, affecting titles on both. Advert for Our National Parks printed on back cover of dj. Otherwise, VG+ condition - totally unmarked, unfoxed and solid. With a publisher's advertising card/prospectus for the book laid in, with a photo of author and Stickeen (the dog), reading "In this little masterpiece - a true adventure told in picturesque and almost poetic prose - John Muir, one of the foremost explorers and nature writers of America, is seen at his best. It is a moving story of a faithful dog and a perilous escape from glacier country. For all readers who appreciate mountain life, and for all dog lovers, the appeal of this story is powerful and unique."
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This was Muir's best-selling book. It's an amazing story, truthfully. Reflecting better on the dog than Muir himself, as he freely admits.
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My First Summer in the Sierra
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1911 - First edition. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston.
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Green cloth boards, with elaborate embossed gilt image to front. Spine sun-faded but easily legible. Profusely illustrated with photos, each of which has intact tissue guard with location of scenery printed thereon, and drawings. Ownership sig (illegible first name, last name Jackson) dated year of publication, otherwise unmarked and unfoxed. Excellent condition. Housed in a custom clamshell box which contains a page of handwritten manuscript which turns out to be from Mountains of California (I had the box made before confirming the source of manuscript page, which was mis-identified by seller). Dedicated to The Sierra Club.
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Edward Henry Harriman
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1911 - First edition. Published by Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden City and New York. Inscribed by Harriman's widow Mary to long-serving family butler.
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Written by Muir at the request of Harriman's widow Mary W. Harriman and inscribed by Mary on ffe: "Frederick W. Meech, Oct 28th 1911, from Mary W. Harriman." Muir had given the eulogy at Harriman's 1909 funeral - it is unclear if the volume contains just that eulogy or was expanded. Harriman sponsored and led the eponymous Alaska expedition which included Muir, John Burroughs, C. Hart Merriam, William Brewer, G.K. Gilbert, George Bird Grinnell, Louis Agassiz Fuertes and Bernhard Fernow, among others. (See the first three volumes of the report issued by the expedition team in the Anthologies section.) Meech was the Harriman family butler, who accompanied the group on the Alaska trip.
Per Wikipedia, Muir initially found Harriman to be "distasteful" but over the course of the trip the two became friends - as noted elsewhere, Muir recruited Harriman to help with National Park legislation (see Steel (1890)). Muir also spent the summer of 1907 with Harriman at his lodge in Oregon, where a stenographer followed Muir around taking dictation for what became his books My First Summer in the Sierra and The Story of my Boyhood and Youth (see below). Not surprisingly, Muir speaks highly of Harriman in this volume, praising his business and organizing ability: "Comparatively few have gained anything like adequate knowledge of the extent and warmth of his sympathies, but none who came nigh him could fail to feel his kindness.... his warm heart it was that endeared him to his friends, but in almost every way he was a man to admire...." (pp. 6-7).
Small, slender octavo in beige cloth boards with faded gilt lettering to cover. 39 pages of text. Boards and spine faded and time worn but sound​. Text block clean and tight. VG
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The Yosemite
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1912 - First edition. Published by The Century Co.
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Green cloth boards, with gilt lettering and beautiful embossed design, clear and bright on both cover and spine. Fine. Unmarked, unfoxed and solid. Profusely illustrated with photos - tissue guard to frontispiece intact. Large fold-out USGS topo map at p. 12 in excellent condition, and smaller fold-out USGS travel map in fine condition at p. 220. The dedication reads: "Affectionately dedicated to my friend Robert Underwood Johnson [publisher of The Century Co. and Muir patron] Faithful Lover and Defender of our Glorious Forests and Originator of The Yosemite National Park." Interesting to note that Muir gives Johnson full credit.
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The Story of my Boyhood and Youth
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1913 - First edition. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston.
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Green cloth boards, with gilt lettering and embossed design clear and bright. Fine. With VG+ dj, lacking only one quarter-sized chip from corner of front cover not impacting title. Single ownership signature (G?.W. Washburn) and small bookseller's sticker (W.B. Clarke Co. of Boston) on ffe. Otherwise unmarked, unfoxed and solid.
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Muir largely wrote this book while staying with Edward Harriman at his lodge on Klamath Lake in Oregon. See Edward Henry Harriman (1911), above.
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Travels in Alaska
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1915 - First edition. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston.
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Gray/Green cloth boards, somewhat soiled and sun-faded but quite clear. Unmarked, unfoxed and solid. Published shortly after Muir's death - he had been working on it (per the preface by Muir's friend and literary executor William Frederic Bade) for several years before dying - it ends mid-journey as the notes for the last bit were not found. Profusely illustrated with photos - tissue guard to frontispiece intact.
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Letters to a Friend: Written to Mrs. Ezra S. [Jeanne] Carr 1866-1879
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1915 - First, limited edition of 300 copies. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston.
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Dark gray/green cloth boards unadorned save title sticker on spine. Near fine. Small ownership stamp (Melvin Wolfson), and a very small handful of under-linings (I found two) to text, otherwise unmarked, unfoxed and solid. Consisting of correspondence between Muir and his friend and supporter Jeanne (Mrs. Ezra) Carr, wife of one of Muir's University of Wisconsin professors, who was perhaps the most influential individual of his adult life - she encouraged, supported and guided him for many years.
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A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf
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1916 - First edition. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston.
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Edited by Muir's literary executor William Frederic Bade. Green cloth boards, with attractive colored sticker illustration to front cover. Unmarked, unfoxed and solid. Illustrated with photos - tissue guard to frontispiece, a photo of Muir in his early thirties, intact.
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The Cruise of the Corwin
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1917 - First edition. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston.
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Edited by Muir's literary executor William Frederic Bade. Gray/green cloth boards, with color sticker illustration to front cover. Unmarked, unfoxed and solid. Illustrated with photos - tissue guard to frontispiece intact. Winthrop Packard, represented elsewhere in the Collection, was a member of the Corwin expedition.
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Steep Trails
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1918 - First edition. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston.
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Edited by Muir's literary executor William Frederic Bade. Gray cloth boards, with colored sticker illustration to front cover. Unmarked save for an unobtrusive sticker on bottom right corner of front pastedown of "Cleveland Antiquarian Books," unfoxed and solid. Illustrated with photos - tissue guard to frontispiece intact.
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Studies in the Sierra
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1950 - First edition. Published by The Sierra Club. Inscribed by William Colby, the dedicatee and author of the Introduction
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Mustard-colored boards in excellent condition. With original dj in poor condition - parts of spine and top of cover missing, not affecting any words or images. Inscribed on ffe "With great affection and admiration" by William Colby and his wife Helen to Dryden and Margaret Phelps in Dec 1951, below which is a five-cent US stamp of Muir pasted in. Colby provides an Introduction to the book - he was secretary of the Sierra Club for 50 years and a friend of Muir's from the turn of the century until Muir's death (see the Muir Chapter in the EC History section for more on Colby). The book is dedicated to Muir and Colby, with the dedication reading in part: "Second only to Muir in this great service [as pioneer of conservation], and dedicated to it with equal devotion, yet over a longer period of time, is William E. Colby. In the wish to record some measure of appreciation of his half century of devotion, the Sierra Club can find no better expression than in the publication of a book which links the names of its two best-loved members." Muir is quoted in Worster as saying, of Colby's role in the fight to elevate Yosemite to National Park status, that he was "the only one of all the club who stood by me in downright effective fighting." [p. 399]
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VG+ condition - otherwise unmarked, unfoxed and solid. Consists of seven articles published by Muir in Overland Monthly in 1874-75, all subsequently reprinted in various Sierra Club Bulletins.
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MUIR-RELATED MATERIALS
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Sierra Club Bulletin - John Muir Memorial Number - January 1916
[Edited by William Bade]
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Sierra Club Publication Number Fifty-one, being Volume Ten, Number One. Paper wrappers. 132 pages plus ads. Primarily containing pieces honoring Muir following his death [note his death was Dec. 1914, showing how long it took to compile and publish something like this]. Contains essays, remembrances, poems, photos, etc. from such notables as William Colby, William Bade, Robert Underwood Johnson, Charles Sprague Sargent, Enos Mills and Bob Marshall. Somewhat yellowed but unmarked and very solid. VG+.
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The Life and Letters of John Muir
[Edited by William Frederic Bade]
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1924 - Two Volumes. First edition. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston.
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Edited and annotated by Muir's literary executor William Frederic Bade. Green cloth boards, with leather spine labels. Bookplate of The American Museum of Natural History (?!) on fpd of Vol I only. Gift inscription (Aunt Charlotte to Gertrude Evans) dated 1928 on ffe of Vol I, with recipient's name only on Vol II. Tissue guards to frontispieces of each volume intact. VG to VG+
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John of the Mountains: Unpublished Journals of John Muir
[Edited by Linne Marsh Wolfe]
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1938 - First printing, with date on title page. Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Boston. Inscribed by editor Wolfe - With original sheet of manuscript tipped in. Ownership signature of Eloise Gerry, first female scientist at Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory
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Thoughtfully inscribed by editor Wolfe "With cordial Greetings" along with a Muir quote ("Happy is a man to whom every tree is a friend."). More on Wolfe below in connection with her 1945 biography of Muir. Original page of handwritten manuscript by Muir (presumably from his journals) tipped in, reading in full: "...downward from the undersides of the branches in lavish profusion + coloring the whole tree as we look upward in delightful purple. On the upper branches are found the fertile cones from six to seven inches long + three to four inches...." Ownership signature of Eloise Gerry dated 1938. First Day Cover of US five cent Muir stamp laid in. Off-white boards decorated with blue horizontal lines and red stamped title. Unfoxed and solid. VG+ to NF- in a VG NPCDJ
See Pinchot's Training of a Forester (1914), with a TLS from him to Gerry and also with her ownership signature, for more on Gerry.
Stapled into the last free endpaper is a two-page typewritten copy of a review of the book by ornithologist Laidlaw Williams (1904-1976) from the summer 1938 issue of Bird-Lore magazine (the review is typed onto plain paper - it is not printed nor is it a copy from the magazine itself). Pasted onto the upper left corner of the second page of the review is what appears to be a return address of The John Muir Association (2831 Garber St., Berkeley, CA) clipped from an envelope, overprinted with three wavy ink lines from what appears to be a postal service cancellation stamp.
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Other first editions which I have seen offered for sale do not include a manuscript page except for two, also inscribed by Wolfe - and both by dedicatee Wanda Muir. The description of one of those copies, since sold, by seller L.W. Curry, stated that "neither BAL nor Kimes mention these special copies. Very rare." There is no mention of the manuscript leaf in the book itself or its jacket, nor in a full book review printed in the NYT in 1938.
My theory is that a limited number of presentation copies were prepared for distribution by The John Muir Association, of which Wolfe was the Secretary. I would further venture to guess that The John Muir Association was run by Wanda Muir, who likely recruited Wolfe to edit the work in the first place. Wanda Muir later recruited Wolfe to write Muir's "authorized" biography (see below). Note the comment below about the 1945 biography, to the effect that Wanda Muir was looking over Wolfe's shoulder when it was written. And Wanda Muir presumably would have been the only person in a position to authorize the inclusion of original manuscript sheets from John's journal in the book. Consequently, I posit these copies were inscribed by Wolfe with the manuscript page tipped in for presentation by the JMA, and that Gerry was the recipient of one of them. That this (alone of the three copies I know about) was not signed by Wanda indicates that perhaps Wolfe herself knew Gerry, personally or by reputation. (Or maybe Laidlaw Williams did - but the typing of the review could equally have been done by Gerry herself, who was clearly meticulous).
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[Incidentally, the current "The John Muir Association" was founded in 1956 as The John Muir Memorial Association to maintain Muir's home and gravesite in Martinez, CA. It was renamed in 2004. There was a prior John Muir Association however, and Wolfe was its secretary, according to her Wikipedia entry. The Sierra Club in its Muir chronology on its website also has a brief mention of the first JMA, noting that in 1938 it joined the campaign for protection of the Redwood Mountain Grove of Giant Sequoias. Beyond that, I have been able to find no information on the initial JMA.]
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In addition to the conditions described above, there is a bibliographical entry handwritten by Gerry on the rear pd for a 1958 article on Muir by one Doug Demarest from "American Forests" [Gerry added substantial bibliographical notes to the rear pd of the Pinchot book as well].
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Laidlaw Williams was an ornithologist and conservationist who specialized in birds of the Monterey Peninsula in CA. Per a nice remembrance of him from The Auk, reprinted at seaside.standford.edu, he was also an ardent conservationist who did much of the behind the scenes work that led to the establishment of the Carmel River State Beach. In later years he was "prominent in the effort to preserve Elkhorn Slough, a locality in northern Monterey County famous for its estuarine and mudflat birds, and his will contained a substantial bequest to the Nature Conservancy toward that end." Williams also founded the Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society chapter in 1943 and was its first president.
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John Muir: 1838-1915
[By Linnie Marsh Wolfe]
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Undated booklet costing ten cents promoting Houghton Mifflin's Muir publications, particularly John of the Mountains
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Contains 13-page biographical essay about Muir by Wolfe. Front cover has title and photo of Muir. Inside front cover has a full-page ad for John of the Mountains. Rear cover has an ad/catalogue of all of Houghton's books by and about Muir. Unmarked. VG+ to NF.
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Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir
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By Linnie Marsh Wolfe
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1945 - Stated first edition. Published by Alfed A. Knopf, New York
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Grey boards, gilt lettering and design of spine. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Copiously illustrated with photos and folding facsimile of Muir's "Grasshopper Letter" to Jeanne Carr (see Letters to a Friend, above). Owner's sig (Grace M. Caig) on front free endpaper. Four pages of Preface detached. Otherwise, VG in a poor PCDJ.
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Linnie Marsh Wolfe (1881-1945) was a teacher and school librarian who took an interest in Muir, organized trips for schoolchildren to his home, spoke about him on radio, and became secretary of the John Muir Association. As noted, the book won the Pulitzer for biography, although Wolfe died before it was awarded.
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The book is based primarily on interviews Wolfe conducted with Muir acquaintances and family. On the one hand, The University of Wisconsin Press, which published a subsequent paperback edition, says the book is "based in large part on Wolfe's personal interviews with people who knew and worked with Muir, is one that could never be written again. It is, and will remain, the standard Muir biography." On the other hand, Donald Worster notes in a footnote to his 2008 Muir biography A Passion for Nature (see Sources) that "Wolfe's material was heavily derived from personal interviews that she did in the 1940s, of which there remains no written record, and which often seems embellished for dramatic effect." (p469). Pinchot biographer Char Miller wrote a retrospective review of the book in 1993 at [https://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/john_muir_newsletter/son_of_the_wilderness_by_linnie_marsh_wolfe_reviewed_by_char_miller.aspx] which also casts some doubt on its quality - noting that Wanda Muir, John's daughter, was "looking over [her] shoulder." Miller takes particular umbrage to Wolfe's recounting of an alleged conversation between Muir and Pinchot in 1897 that split the men and the conservation movement, noting no other record or documentation of that conversation exists (see the Muir chapter in the EC History section for more on this.)
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John Muir: A Reading Bibliography
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By William F. (1907-98) and Maymie B. Kimes (1909-2002)
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1977 - First edition, limited to 300 copies which were distributed to subscribers. Published by William P. Wreden, Palo Alto CA. Signed by both authors and printer Grant Dahlstrom.
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Quarto. A fine press publication with quarter linen and brown boards with picture of tree on cover. List of subscribers on pages before title page, of which from rough eyeballing perhaps half are institutions and half individuals. Frontispiece photo of Muir in his "scribbler's den" and other illustrations. A chronologically organized bibliography of every known piece of writing by Muir, with substantial annotations, cross references and Muir quotes. An extraordinary piece of work. The Kimeses were lifelong collectors and scholars of Muir whose collection of thousands of Muir-related materials were purchased by the John Muir Memorial Association and subsequently donated to the John Muir National Historical Site. Per a piece on the Kimeses in the Sierra Club Vault, the "organization of this master-work is now used to catalog the John Muir Papers held at the University of the Pacific." Brief, laudatory foreword by Lawrence Clark Powell. Powell was the head librarian and first dean of the School of Library Science at UCLA, and the Powell Library there is named after him. NF+ with faintest foxing on top edges of boards and text block.
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[SEE ALSO - ANSEL ADAMS - YOSEMITE AND THE SIERRA NEVADA - 1948 - WITH TEXT SELECTIONS FROM MUIR'S WORK]
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[SEE ALSO - ANTHOLOGIES - HARRIMAN ALASKA EXPEDITION]
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[SEE ALSO - ANTHOLOGIES - IN AMERICAN FIELDS AND FORESTS]
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[SEE ALSO - HUTCHINGS, JAMES - MUIR'S BOSS FOR SEVERAL YEARS AFTER HE FIRST MOVED TO YOSEMITE]
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