John Muir: His Life and Letters and Other Writings [Hardcover]

John Muir (Author), Terry Gifford (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

John Muir: His Life And Letters And Other Writings is a new omnibus that provides an opportunity to bring together tree of John Muir's (1838-1913) lesser-known books: "The Cruise of the Corwin" which describes the search for the Ship "Jeanette" which was lost in Alaskan waters in 1876; "Stickeen", an affectionate portrait of a friend's dog that accompanied Muir on a glacier exploration; and "Edward Henry Harriman", a tribute to a railroad magnate who was Muir's unlikely ally in conservation politics. Also included are a number of Muir's lesser-known pamphlets and essays including "Picturesque California"; "Treasures and Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park"; and a series of previously uncollected letters concerning Muir's return to Scotland in 1983, and some rare scientific papers and essays. Still another item is Samuel Hall Young's 1915 book, "Alaska Days with John Muir" which provides a gripping account of some of Muir's bold escapades in later life. John Muir: His Life And Letters And Other Writings ends with a series of assessments on Muir's contributions, written after his death by fellow Sierra Club members. What emerges from this divers collection is a broader reflection of Muir's activities that embellishes and amplifies the material in his better known books. It gives the reader an intimate, candid Muir of the letters and a perspective of his later adventures, his career as a travel writer for magazines and journals, and Muir as the passionate polemicist on behalf of the earth's riches. All these writings come fresh from the frontiers of ecological living a century ago, in a region where the commercial and urban development of an energetic new nation brought conservation concerns to the fore. Though rooted in the burning issues of the past, Muir's writings provide contemporary lessons for our present and future survival on what Muir termed the "Earth Planet". John Muir: His Life And Letters And Other Writings is an important contribution to every conservationist and ecologist library, wonderul reading for those interested in the life and times of an amazing American, and a small masterpiece of scholastic research with an interest for generations of readers yet to come for whom John Muir will have become legend. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 912 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898864631
• ISBN-13: 978-0898864632
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First-rate, May 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: John Muir: His Life and Letters and Other Writings (Hardcover)

I bought this book after hearing a lecture by Edward Renehan at the Union League Club in NYC. Renehan is the biographer of Muir's friend and associate John Burroughs, and in the course of his lecture he recommended this edition as a good, solid, representative volume of Muir's prose. That it is, and I'm happy to join Renehan in recommending it. -- Alfred Roosein

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1924, November 28, 2009

By 

Anne Salazar "inveterate reader" (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Muir: His Life and Letters and Other Writings (Hardcover)

I have recently become interested in and perhaps even enamored of John Muir, so am on a search for his letters and books. I came across this huge book, and thanks to the ability to Search inside the book at Amazon.com, I discovered that this book was originally published in two volumes in 1924. I don't know if that makes any difference to the reader, but in my case my grandfather has those books, so I probably will read those instead of this one. I think the fact that this is a reprint should have been mentioned in the Review above.