Creator
Abba G. W[oolson]
Recipient
John Muir
Transcription
Boston. 64 Boylston St. Thursday evening Mar. 21 72.
Dear Mr. Muir,
Behold the two members of this Woolson family sitting at a long centre table before their coal grate fire, with a blessed letter from the Yo Semite spread out before them, and both pens driving fast to indite a reply. I can see the little log cabin among the rushes, under the eternal walls, and the invitation you give me to come there and spend a year, sounds to me, in this far-away, crowded city, as if some serene exullant angel had leaned [at?] the [illegible] of Heaven and shouted down, "Come up hither, it is a glorious world here, and there is a room built for you"! But how to get there, and how to leave this reeling old world below, which I am struggling so hard to set right! Oh, wouldn't I be willing to live on bread and water, and
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to live near sack cloth and ashes for the next six months if I thought I could truly [be?] [illegible] looking up at Sentinel Rock and the South Dome from the meadow's edge beside the river. I shall come there some day. I am sure of that The only question is - when. But I thank you most cordially for your glorious whole - [illegible] invitation, and when I do come, I hope to find the new cabin and its owner in their best estate. I brought six new [illegible] ic views of the valley last week at a book store here, and they have to send me now. My "Walden" is to go to you at once by mail, and if the snow blockade doesn't shut down again and fates take care of it, as I am sure they will, it will [give?] you infinite delight. This copy I have read numberless times and the Rev. Char. G. Ames, of San Jose' in your state, borrowed it of me once, when we both lived in Cincinnati, and he learned to love Th[illegible]s form it too. So it has seen service, and now goes to its reward and a final home in the Yo Semite. I will write a longer letter some day. Do write us often. Just now I am the busiest woman on [in margin: the globe and envy you your calm, secure leisure. I am writing no new [illegible] articles at present. Shall begin on your [illegible] in a few weeks. Very truly, Abby G. W.]
Location
Boston
Date Original
1872 Mar 21
Source
Original letter dimensions: 20.5 x 12.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Woolson, Abba G., "Letter from Abba G. W[oolson] to John Muir, 1872 Mar 21." (1872). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1436.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1436
Resource Identifier
muir02_0733-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 02, Image 0733
Collection Identifier
Online finding aid for the microform version of the John Muir Correspondence http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0w1031nc
Copyright Status
Copyright status unknown
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
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Pages
2 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
