David Spilman Fine Books

The Cruise of the Corwin; [Journal of the Arctic Expedition of 1881 in search of De Long and the Jeannette]

Muir, John [William F. Bade, Ed.]

Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1917. Near Fine. First Edition. Large Paper Edition #151 of 550 copies [Published October 1917] [9.5x6.5in”]; [2], xxxi, [1], 278 pp. [2], 22 plates of ten black/white images, including frontispiece , and 18 black/white illustrations from Muir sketches, one map, illustration of newly discovered plant on title page, appendices on glaciation and botanical notes; Pale green cloth binding with white lettering on front and spine, color photogravure of USRC Corwin in ice flows on front, top edge gilt, bottom edge trimmed and foredge untrimmed; Minimal shelf wear to corners of spine and bottom edges, slight age toning to end papers, prior owner book label of Vernon Howard on front end paper; [Arctic Biblio 11838, Kimes 348, Howgego III D5 and IV M94]. Item #14197

John Muir (1838-1914) was a well-known naturalist, preservationist, author, founder of the Sierra Club. His writings and advocacy to Congress led to establish Yosemite as a National Park in 1890, but, unlike Yellowstone, under California State control. Over the next decade, Muir founded the Sierra Club to promote environmental protections to wilderness areas, wrote several books on his travels and developed influence with government and business leaders. In 1903, on a trip to Yosemite with President Theodore Roosevelt, he described the State's mismanagement and exploitation of the National Park an pressed for Federal control, and in 1905 Yosemite was expanded and placed under the control of the Department of Interior.

The USRC Thomas Corwin was one of several Pacific Revenue Cutters based in San Francisco and assigned to the Alaskan waters. The annual cruise of 1881, under the command of Captain Calvin Hooper, was to visit and resupply settlements, search for the DeLong expedition in the "Jeannette" and lost whalers, and continue the scientific studies of the Arctic. Selected as the specialist in geology and botany, Muir's primary object in joining the Corwin expedition was to look for evidence of glaciation in the Arctic and sub arctic regions. In addition to glacial studies, Muir made a significant scientific contribution in studying the flora of the Arctic regions, including the discovery of a new species, named by famed botanist Asa Gray Erigeron Muirii . This book is from Muir's daily journal and 21 letters that he wrote to the San Francisco "Daily Evening Bulletin". The book also includes the articles that Muir wrote for the official expedition reports in 1883 and 1884.

Vernon Howard (1918-1992) was a California Mountaineer and bookseller.

Price: $525.00