Creator
John Muir
Recipient
Mary [Muir Hand]
Transcription
[1]Martinez Contra Costa County Cal. Dec 20, 1880.My dear Sister Mary,I am so glad to know that your little man-boy is prospering so well & that he is already giving evidence of prodigious talent Geology, did you say! & botany! Well you cannot , I think I might venture to say, be quite sure as to the ologies as yet, but he will no doubt have more than ordinary talent & living in a fresh wild country he will be pretty sure to be healthy. I am coming to see you my lassie & all those sketches[2]that you have been making since last I saw you, just as soon as the good Lord will let me away from my studies & my new duties. In the meantime we expect a long visit from a relative of the family that will no doubt claim a good deal of my time, & this in addition to my writing will make it impossible to come to you this year. That exacting relative has no name as yet. I mean a baby who is to appear in a month or two. If I have forgotten to answer your husbands letter I am very sorry
[Page 2]
[3]I usually answer all home letters as soon as they come to hand because they are so very numerous I am unable to remember whether or no they receive a reply ere they are laid away. How delightful it is to think of you & Joanna so near, &, lovers of Nature as you both so keenly are, in so wild & so beautiful a region. I only wish that I could see you both every day & give you the benefit or the burden of one of my long talks. You know that though far from fluent I always was an inveterate speaker, & I grow worse & worse as I grow [4]older. It must be hard for Maggie in her poor health to begin home making afresh so far from Sarah & mother & all of you save Dan. Still she will I devoutly hope become accustomed to the change without much suffering. Away & away you all we all are flying like winged seeds, & taking root far apart. Heaven bless us all & keep us close together in eternal family love. With Lou’s kindest regard I am every cordially & lovingly your brotherJohn MuirRemember me to Mr Hand & to Mr Brown I look forward with great pleasure to the time [in margin: when I shall make their acquaintance.]
Location
Martinez, Calif.
Date Original
1880 Dec 20
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to Mary [Muir Hand], 1880 Dec 20." (1880). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 598.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/598
Resource Identifier
muir04_0389-md-1.pdf
File Identifier
Reel 04, Image 0388
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
Copyrighted
Copyright Statement
The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust. To purchase copies of images and/or obtain permission to publish or exhibit them, click here to view the Holt-Atherton Special Collections policies.
Owning Institution
John Muir National Historic Site. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Copyright Holder
Muir-Hanna Trust
Copyright Date
1984
Pages
2 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
