L. W. Currey, Inc.

GLEASON, HERBERT WENDELL. The Western wilderness of North America[.] Photographs by Herbert W. Gleason[.] Introduction & Commentary by George Crossette[.] With a foreword by Stewart L. Udall. Barre, Massachusetts: Published by Barre Publishers, 1972. 28.2x22.6 cm, pp. [1-6] 7 [8] 9-12 [13-14] 15-106 [107] [108: colophon], illustrations, 1 map, original green cloth, spine panel stamped in gold. First edition. Includes chapters, "John Muir Trail, California," pp. 24-[26] (photographs taken in 1919), "Yosemite National Park, California," pp. 27-38 (1907-1911), and "Kings Canyon National Park, California," pp. 39-43 (1907). "Herbert Wendell Gleason's photographic work was informed by his commitment to preservation of the natural world ... Gleason has long been recognized as a major American landscape photographer. In his A Certain Slant of Light: The First Hundred Years of New England Photography, photographic historian William F. Robinson described Gleason as 'the greatest, and certainly the most prolific, New England nature photographer.' Although Gleason photographed Massachusetts (particularly Concord), Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut extensively, he was much more than a photographer of New England. He photographed places in New York State, Minnesota, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California, Washington State, Alaska, and Canada as well. Even Ansel Adams, the great photographer of the American West, acknowledged the value of Gleason's wide-ranging work in raising public consciousness of the landscape. As valuable as Gleason's photography is for documenting the unspoiled natural beauty of North America, it is arguably also impressive as an artistic achievement, although it has not generally been regarded as such. Much of Gleason's work is breathtakingly dramatic. All of it is rich in visual detail. Many images reveal the photographer's remarkable sense of composition. William F. Robinson characterized Gleason's distinctive synthesis of natural detail into a balanced whole as 'the ability of suggesting order while retaining chaos'" (Concord Library, Concord, MA)."Following John Muir’s death, his daughters asked his good friend William F. Badé, a faculty member at the University of California, to prepare an edition of their father’s principal literary works. Published by Houghton Mifflin between 1916 and 1924, the 10-volume set involved the collaboration of Herbert W. Gleason, another close friend of Muir’s. Gleason was based in Massachusetts but spent much of his adult life traveling around North America with a camera and notebook. An extended visit to California and the High Sierra in the summer of 1907 brought him into contact with Muir, and a meaningful association was born. Gleason went on to become one of the most capable and prolific nature photographers of the early 20th century" (Huntington Library and Art Gallery).For a biography of Gleason see Dale R. Schwie, Taking Sides with the Sun: Landscape Photographer Herbert W. Gleason, a biography. A fine copy without dust jacket as issued. (#166640).