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Author: Muir, John
Title: The Cruise of Corwin and Travels in Alaska
Place Published: Boston and New York
Publisher:Houghton Mifflin Company
Date Published: 1917 and 1915
Description:

THE CRUISE OF THE CORWIN. Edited by William Frederic Bade. Hand-colored photogravure frontispiece, with 26 plates consisting of one map, eleven halftone reliefs from photographs, eight halftone reliefs from sketches by Muir, and six line blocks from drawings by Muir. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917. First edition - Large Paper Edition, #476 of 550 numbered copies. In addition to its regular arctic duties as a United States Revenue Service Cutter, the Corwin steamed out of San Francisco Bay on May 4, 1881 with orders to search for the American polar exploration vessel Jeanette which had not been heard from since 1879. Muir (1838-1914) shipped onboard as a naturalist and correspondent for the San Francisco Daily Bulletin, and this work consists of the twenty-one letters that he wrote to the Bulletin during the more than five-month voyage, supplemented with notes from his daily diary, and the two scientific reports on botany and glaciation that he wrote for the government. Muir was a gifted journalist with a reporter's instinct for the dramatic. Filled with colorful details of the arctic natives and their customs, the stark landscape, and frequently perilous adventures in an inhospitable and hazardous environment, his despatches were eagerly read by a large audience. Octavo. Original green laid paper covered boards over a green cloth spine, with a brown leather spine label stamped in gold. Kimes #347.

TRAVELS IN ALASKA. Preface by William Frederic Bade. Hand-colored photogravure frontispiece, with 16 plates from photographs by Herbert W. Gleason and others. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1915. First edition - Large Paper Edition, #386 of 450 copies. Muir (1838-1914) made several trips to the pristine, relatively unexplored territory of Alaska, irresistibly drawn to its awe-inspiring glaciers and its wild menagerie of bears, bald eagles, wolves, and whales. Published posthumously, this work "contains much edited material from articles Muir had written for the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin on his Alaska trips of 1879 and 1880, and from the article 'Alaska' in Picturesque California, all of which is skillfully woven into much new material edited from his journals." Octavo. Original green laid paper covered boards over a green cloth spine, with a brown leather spine label stamped in gold. Kimes #333.

Donated by The Book Shop, LLC, Covina, CA.

Cruise of the Corwin - The rear hinge has been repaired. The lower corners are showing. Some minor smudging and wear to the boards; else very good. Travels in Alaska - The bookplate of Samuel Strong Spaulding appears on the front pastedown. The spine is darkened a bit, with some scuffing and loss to the spine label; else very good.