The John Muir Library Series

from Sierra Club Books

(Alas, the Sierra Club shut down its book publishing program in 2015).

This series gathered John Muir's works into uniform, quality paperback editions, with introductions by modern writers. Each book includes wood engravings by Michael McCurdy. Each book was priced at a reasonable $10.00. Design examples of two of the books are shown here.

[woodcut portrait of John Muir] Woodcut Portrait by Michael McCurdy

The links below are to our HTML versions of these books scanned from early public domain versions of the books. Look in your local used bookstore for copies of the physical books, which may be most notable for the forewords weritten by important contemporary writers.

Steep Trails: Foreword by Edward Hoagland
Two dozen magazine articles and letters in this collection present the natural treasures of an unspoiled land as white settlers found them a century ago: the Great Salt Lake, the San Gabriel Mountains, Mount Rainier, the Grand Canyon. Includes Muir's account of his perilous night caught in a snowstorm on the summit of Mount Shasta, and "A Geologists's Winter Walk" in Yosemite, where Muir found a living glacier with which to prove his controversial theory that glaciers had formed Yosemite Valley.
( press release for this book)
The Cruise of the Corwin: Foreword by Roderick Nash.
The only edition of this work in print, eloquently recounts the naturalist's cruise into Alaskan waters in 1881.
The Mountains of California: Foreword by Gretel Ehrich
An elegant new edition of Muir's enduring celebration of the Sierra Nevada - a model for three generations of nature writers.
My First Summer in the Sierra: Foreword by Frederick Turner
The most popular of Muir's works, an account of his first visit to the High Sierra and the Yosemite, when he recognized his life's calling in preserving these wilderness areas.
Our National Parks: Foreword by Alfred Runte
A collection of ten essays recounting the beauty and grandeur of Yosemite, Sequoia, Yellowstone and other parks of the American West.
The Story of My Boyhood & Youth: Foreword by David Quammen
The memoir of the early years of John Muir details his boyhood in Scotland, and his immigration to America.
A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf: Foreword by Colin Fletcher
Chronicles the naturalist's walk after the Civil War from Indianapolis through Kentucky to Florida - one of his best-loved books.
Travels in Alaska: Foreword by John Haines
The classic account of John Muir's adventures and discoveries during three visits to Alaska.
The Yosemite: Foreword by David Brower
John Muir's adventure guide for the Yosemite Valley.

Source: Sierra Club Books (now defunct)
Received: 1994 June