the john muir exhibit - people - ralph waldo emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803-1882
- Philosopher
and essayist.
- John Muir met
Emerson in Yosemite in 1871. Muir had read much of Emerson's
work and was influenced greatly by his writings.
- Muir spent several days with Emerson, but Muir wanted Emrson to camp with him in the Wawona
Grove, but Emerson's traveling companions wouldn't allow the aged essayist to do so.
- Of Emerson,
Muir wrote, "Emerson
was the most serene, majestic, sequoia-like soul I ever met. His
smile was as sweet and calm as morning light on mountains. There
was a wonderful charm in his presence; his smile, serene eye, his
voice, his manner, were all sensed at once by everybody. I felt
here was a man I had been seeking. The Sierra, I was sure, wanted
to see him, and he must not go before gathering them an interview!
A tremendous sincerity was his. He was as sincere as the trees,
his eye sincere as the sun."
- For More info: Merrill, Samuel, "John Muir and Ralph Waldo Emerson in Yosemite" (1934) in Voices for the Earth: A Treasury of the Sierra Club Bulletin 1893-1977 Edited by Ann Gilliam (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1979).
A description of Muir as a somewhat shy and awkward young man in 1871, when he met Emerson in Yosemite, compiled from the writings of Emerson's friend and traveling companion, James Bradley Thayer, as well as Muir himself.
- McAleer, John, "John Muir," in Ralph Waldo Emerson: Days of Encounter , (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984).
This unique biography illustrates Emerson's life through "encounters" with numerous individuals, the full spectrum of his relationships. One chapter features Emerson's meeting with John Muir in Yosemite in 1870. While Muir biographies describe this from Muir's point of view, this version, told from Emerson's point of view, provides some fascinating details. Also describes the later Muir-Emerson correspondence and relationship.
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