Creator

Alice Morse Earle

Recipient

John Muir

Preview

image preview

Transcription

Mtns of California [5]Review by Alice Morse Earle.Perhaps the most marked characteristic of the book is the intense love shown by the author for all forms & aspects of nature the trees are his brother; he knows their forms, their voices, the different sounds of their rustling leaves, he reads their soul; the birds & beasts are his friends - how he delineates their features! the flowers are his sweethearts; he can never cease telling their endearing traits.The book is wholly self forgetful; in that respect a keen contrast to the self conscious nature-studies of Thoreau. It is almost man-forgetful - though occasional bits of description appears - like this humerous acct of the furred Mono [illegible].The picture of the old miners in their exaggerated dotage shows deep human sympathy. I do not like to end the reviewing of this book any more than like to close its pages, over wh I linger longing to quote the fine thoughts, the fair & symmetrical sentences I ever find, to give the noble expression of the sublimity & power of the winds told in that fairly passionate chapter A wind Storm in the Forest; to tell the revealed meaning of the gestures of the trees; to recount the wonderful almost incredible story of the beautiful brave wild sheep, the analytical study & history of the giant sequoias, the picture of the hanging gardens with larkspurs 8 ft high & that final revel in sweetness, the chapter on the Bee Pastures, those flowery wildernesses whose gladsome praise in melodious phrase makes a picture sweeter than that of honied Hybla, rosier than that of heathery Hymettus.Alice Morse Earle04378

Location

Brooklyn, N. Y.

Date Original

[ca. 1909 ?]

Source

Original letter dimensions: 22.5 x 35 cm.

Resource Identifier

muir18_1011-let.tif

File Identifier

Reel 18, Image 1011

Copyright Statement

Some letters written to John Muir may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Owning Institution

University of the Pacific Library Holt-Atherton Special Collections. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.

Page Number

Page 5

Keywords

John Muir, correspondence, letters, author, writing, naturalist, California, correspondent, mail, message, post, exchange of letters, missive, notes, epistle

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