A western journey with Mr. Emerson. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1884. 16.7 x 13 cm (small octavo), pp. [1-5], 6-141 [142-144: blank], flyleaves at front and rear, publisher's white wrappers, title printed in silver on front panel, all edges untrimmed. First edition. Thayer's name appears at the conclusion of his "Note" on page 7, but is not present on the title page. In the spring of 1871 Ralph Waldo Emerson traveled west with a party of eleven including Thayer. Though Emerson was sixty-eight years of age at the time, the group made the then-arduous journey to Yosemite. John Muir guided the party through the Mariposa Grove and urged Emerson to remain in Yosemite longer, but Emerson's companions discouraged a more lengthy stay. Thayer's account of the trip to Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa big trees comprises pages [53]-109, and is especially interesting for his observations of Muir, whom he referred to as "M." A portion of the narrative relating to Muir, as well as Muir's later recollections of Emerson's visit, appears in Samuel T. Farquhar, "John Muir and Ralph Waldo Emerson in Yosemite: Gathered from Their Writings and Correspondence," Sierra Club Bulletin, 19 (June 1934), [48]-55. A new edition, edited with a foreword and notes by Shirley Sargent, was published in 1980 by The Book Club of California in an edition of 600 copies. Currey and Kruska 329. A fine copy in gray dust jacket with title printed in black on the front panel. The jacket has a 20 mm closed tear at the bottom edge of the rear panel. Quite scarce in this condition. (#165949).
No statement of printing.