A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, copy #197 of the limited, large paper issue, immaculate and unread in the exceptionally scarce dust jacket.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1916. First edition, limited and numbered large paper issue. Hardcover. This is an extraordinary example of the 550 copies of the limited issue of the first edition. These are strikingly different in appearance than their trade issue first edition counterparts, being roughly one inch taller, one inch wider, bound with untrimmed edges in a quarter green cloth binding with pale green paper-covered boards, and wrapped in a tan, laid paper dust jacket printed on the spine and specifically labeled “Large Paper Edition” on both the dust jacket and copyright page. This particular copy, numbered “197”, is vanishingly rare thus – unread, with uncut signatures throughout, and still protected beneath the original dust jacket. Condition is better than near fine in a very good dust jacket. The binding is square, tight, sharp-cornered, unfaded, and almost immaculately clean, with scant evidence that it is more than century old. We note only a single, tiny blemish on the lower rear board and a hint of shelf wear at the spine heel. The contents are better still – immaculately clean with no spotting, soiling, or previous ownership marks. Even the untrimmed text block edges are improbably clean. The laid paper dust jacket proved quite susceptible to brittleness, likely explaining its low survival rate. This jacket is noteworthy simply for being present and substantially intact. This example retains all of its spine print and uniform hue, with no differential toning of the spine. The jacket shows small splits starting at the flap folds, tiny chip losses to the flap fold corners, spine head, and upper rear cover, the only significant loss being a roughly 0.25 inch wide, 1.25 inch deep loss at the spine heel adjacent to the lower front hinge. The jacket is now protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.
It has been said that if not for an 1867 industrial accident, John Muir would not have become one of the world's great naturalists and conservationists. But there were signs. One was his drive to "devour every book that he came across". Another was the fact that, even though Muir matriculated at the University of Wisconsin, "he did not bother to take his degree in 1863, preferring to study his own interests, practical geology and botany, rather than university-approved subjects. By making field trips in Wisconsin, neighboring states, and Canada, Muir increased his knowledge of nature, especially of plants."
Then came a catalyst for commitment to his path. "In 1867, while working at a carriage parts shop in Indianapolis, Muir suffered an eye injury that temporarily blinded him. When he regained his sight one month later, Muir resolved to turn his eyes permanently and entirely to regard for nature's wonders. He began with the thousand-mile walk chronicled in this book, which took Muir, step-by-step, journal entry by journal entry, into his own. A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf is a window on Muir’s environmental awakening, chronicling the awe and resilience that would define his life.
Further wanderings brought him to San Francisco in March 1868, and by that summer Muir had made his first home in Yosemite. Muir became a foundational member of the conservation movement. While he lost battles, his influence was unequivocal, including on President Theodore Roosevelt, with whom Muir camped in Yosemite and who acted as President to save 148 million acres of forest and created 50 areas to protect wildlife, 16 national monuments, and 5 national parks.
"In later years he turned more seriously to writing, publishing 300 articles and 10 major books that recounted his travels, expounded his naturalist philosophy, and beckoned everyone to 'Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.'" By the time he died in late 1914, the public image of John Muir, as a scraggly-bearded, scarecrow-thin, almost Old Testament visionary of wood and mountain, was iconic. Only thereafter did the work of the wide-eyed and wondering 29-year-old Muir, who had not yet even seen the Sierras, finally greet the public. After Muir's death, his literary executor and first biographer William Frederic Badè worked from Muir's original 1867 notebooks he had kept throughout his “Thousand-mile Walk to the Gulf” to produce this book - arguably Muir's first, even though it took nearly half a century to achieve publication.
References: ANB; NPS; Sierra Club. Item #008936
Price: $2,250.00