L. W. Currey, Inc.

KING, THOMAS STARR. A vacation among the Sierras: Yosemite in 1860 by Thomas Starr King. Edited, with an introduction and notes, by John A. Hussey. San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1962. 22x15 cm (octavo), pp. [i-iv] v [vi] vii [viii] ix-xxxiv [1-2] 3-78, frontispiece (included in pagination), 4 illustrations on 2 inserted plates, decorated boards with cloth shelf back, spine panel stamped in gold. First edition. King's narrative of his Yosemite trip "marked a milestone in Yosemite literature because of his ability to make others visualize the scenes described and because of his already established reputation as a nature writer" (Hussey, introduction, page xxiv). The eight letters describing the journey were first published in the Boston Evening Transcript between December 1, 1860 and February 9, 1861. This account of a trip to the Mariposa Big Tree Grove and Yosemite Valley in the summer of 1860 by the well known and influential Unitarian minister and orator, was the first substantial description of an extended Yosemite visit and certainly better acquainted eastern readers with the scenic grandeur of the region that any previous report. King was uniquely qualified to describe the "incomparable valley." His observations were keen and he possessed the ability to transfer them successfully onto paper. King was also an experienced mountaineer. Prior to his move from Boston to California, he had spent many summers exploring the White Mountains of New Hampshire. His close and enthusiastic association with this range resulted in a series of sketches of his mountain excursions which were published in the Boston Transcript and later formed part of his book, The White Hills, published in 1859. After his Yosemite visit, King remarked to a friend that he intended to write a similar book on the Sierra Nevada, but at the time of his death in 1864 no work on the project had been accomplished. BCC # 111. Endpapers a bit tanned along the gutter margins, a nearly fine copy in nearly fine unprinted white dust jacket with tanning to spine panel and along flap folds and the author/title lettered in black ink on the spine panel. (#165952).