Creator
John Muir
Recipient
Helen [Muir]
Transcription
01724
[1]
[letterhead]
LONDON, Aug. 31 1893.
[in margin: 789]
My dear little Helen
I am on the way home but it will take a good while to get home for it is a long way & I have to stop here & there along the road Still it will not be long after you get this letter until you get me. Only a few weeks & I'll write & let you know where I am all the time. I got back to England from the big mountains & glaciers of Switzerland last Monday & I was pretty tired for I traveled all night. Then I went to see a grand church full of curious looking old fashioned people made out of stone. Tuesday i went up the Thames river on a steamboat
[2]
to the Kerr Gardens where all kinds of beautiful trees & palms & ferns & flowers gathered from all the world are growing. I know that you & Wanda & Mama & grandma would be delighted to see them Thousands of men & women & little boys & girls were looking at them & they could go wherever the liked without paying anything if they were careful not to touch any of the flowers. These gardens are larger than all the ranch. Near the gate of the gardens there is a larger building called the Herbarium, & there I found my old friend sir Joseph Hooker & he was glad to see me. He knew me very well as soon as I walked into the room among the dried plants though it is seventeen years since we has seen each other. Next day he brought his family down to London - his wife & daughter & two boys
3
& I ate breakfast with them at a nice place called the Lou[illegible] House, where all the waiters wear dress suits. After breakfast we all went to Westminister Abbey again the grand church I have just been speaking about where so many old Kings & Queens & nobleman used to say their prayers. Then we went to the Parliment House & the speaker of the House of Commons who is a friend Hooker showed us all the different rooms & told us lots of curious things Then we went to the British Museum where all kinds of birds & animals & flowers & bones are dried & stuffed & my! what a lot there now stuffed bears & [deer?] & elephants & g[illegible] & seals & eagles & all kinds of monkeys & everything. Today I went to see the Tower of London. A huge grim old castle
[4]
full of guns & swords & shields & armor & a thousand queer things that I have no room to write about. Then I went to the [back?] & found another letter from Wanda & a nice picture from you dated Aug. 14, & I was very glad to get them & I hope to get more before I leave this country for I do not start across the sea until the 16th of September. This afternoon I am going with Joseph Hooker & his family to their home which is about 30 miles from here & hope to have a good time. Then some time tomorrow I hope to start for Edinburgh & get ready for getting back to our own country. Ive been buying some nice things for you & I will look about for some more. Now my darling I must stop. I send you many kisses over the sea & over the mountains- & lots of love for all the family. Goodbye darling from papa John Muir
Location
London, [England]
Date Original
1893 Aug 31
Source
Original letter dimensions: 20 x 25.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to Helen [Muir], 1893 Aug 31." (1893). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 985.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/985
Resource Identifier
muir07_1311-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 07, Image 1311
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
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.
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
