Steep Trails by John Muir, Large Paper Edition, Numbered 8 of 380, in Original Boards, 1918

Muir, John. Steep Trails. California - Utah - Nevada - Washington - Oregon - The Grand Cañon. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918.  Edited by William Frederic Bade. First Edition. Large Paper Edition,  No. 8 of 380. In the original green cloth-backed boards, black leather spine label titled in gilt. Deckled edges. Illustrated with 12 plates, including a hand-colored frontispiece.

Presented is the large paper edition of John Muir’s Steep Trails. This first edition was published in Boston and New York by Houghton Mifflin Company, in 1918. This book is numbered No. 8 of 380 large paper copies, 350 of which were for sale. The volume has 12 plates, including a hand-colored frontispiece. It is presented in the original green cloth boards, with a leather spine label titled in gilt. Steep Trails is a collection of two dozen of Muir's essays documenting his travels throughout the American West between 1873 and 1902. Steep Trails was compiled and edited after Muir’s death by his literary executor William Frederic Bade.

Spanning nearly thirty years of Muir's writing, Steep Trails features private letters to friends and articles that first appeared in publications of limited and local circulation. As readers, we accompany Muir as he sails through the Puget Sound, interviews the last miner in a Nevada ghost town, climbs the steep peaks of Mount Shasta and Rainer, and wonders at the miracle of the Grand Canon. “To read this book is like going on a joyous holiday through the most picturesque parts of America with a man to whom nature is as close and vivid a presence as it is to a great poet… To him the hills and rocks are almost sentient- as they were to the lovable and radiant saint whose brothers the sun and the wind were. It is this pervading feeling that tints and warms the clarity of these bright pages.” (New York Times, December 22, 1918)

Scottish-American John Muir was commonly known as “John of the Mountains” or “Father of the National Parks” for the work he did to help protect these preserved lands. As a wilderness explorer, he is renowned for his exciting adventures in California's Sierra Nevada, among Alaska's glaciers, and worldwide travels in search of nature's beauty. As a writer, he taught the public the importance of experiencing and protecting our natural lands. His writings contributed greatly to the creation of Yosemite, Sequoia, Mount Rainier, Petrified Forest, and Grand Canyon National Parks.

In 1892, John Muir and other supporters formed the Sierra Club "to make the mountains glad." The Sierra Club still operates today in the United States as a conservation-based environmental organization. As a result of Muir’s urging, President Theodore Roosevelt passed many pioneering conservation programs, including establishing the first national monument under the Antiquities Act in 1906, which protected Devils Tower, a well-known geological formation in Crook County, Wyoming. 

CONDITION:

Very good condition. Octavo. Sage green cloth boards with gilt titles to spine. Deckle edge. Vibrant illustrations and frontispiece. Even toning throughout, free of significant staining. Some light bumping. Binding starting to split lightly in some places. Broken headband.

Dimensions: 9 1/4" H x 6 1/4" W x 1 3/4" D.

Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.