Creator
W[illiam] M. Canby
Recipient
John Muir
Transcription
[4]
Whenever I speak of Alaska and recommend people to go there to see its wonders, that is always the principal inducement I mention.
I ask you to believe, my dear Mr. Muir, that I always think of you with the utmost respect and I may truly say admiration; and that in all sincerity I am most truly,
Your obliged,
Wm M. Canby
I sent your Mountains of California to Mr. Anderson
[1]
Wilmington Delaware
Oct. 24th 1897
My dear Mr. Muir,
Prof. August has written me of the death of your mother-in-law, the dear old lady who so kindly received us when he and I were at your house some years since. I desire to express my sympatny with you and especially with Mrs. Muir at this severance of so tender and close a relation. However circumstances of poor health or suffering may seem to the outside world to make such a change even desirable it is always more or
02353
[2]
less shocking to affectionate natures and to those who are in near relationship.
I have been, since my return, so very busy--indeed hard-worked--that I have not written, as I had intended, to thank you for the past pleasure and profit you gave me during our journey together. When I consider what a plague I was to you and how often and unmercifully--yes and unwarrantably--I let my sense of fun get the better of my discretion in teasing you I wonder at your forbearance. I do assure you that I constantly acknowledge to myself all I
[3]
owe to you of pleasure and knowledge and constantly feel that one of the best journeys of my life was made what it was by you. But for you I should scarce think of Alaska with a sense of proper knowledge or of the great delight in it which I now have. And so if you will let me I will ask you to think of me as being very grateful to you.
I consider it the greatest thing I ever experienced in that I have seen God's hand carving out a country with his icy chisel. The more I think of it the more reverential I become.
Location
Wilmington, Del.
Date Original
1897 Oct 24
Source
Original letter dimensions: 23 x 28 cm.
Recommended Citation
Canby, William M., "Letter from W[illiam] M. Canby to John Muir, 1897 Oct 24." (1897). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 2022.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/2022
Resource Identifier
muir09_1116-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 09, Image 1116
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
1 page
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
