The Cruise of the Corwin – John Muir – 1917 | First Edition, Arctic Notes

1917 Cruise of the Corwin John Muir is the first published edition of John Muir’s observational journal from his participation in the 1881 Arctic voyage of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Corwin. Commissioned to aid in the search for the lost Jeannette expedition, this journey took Muir into the coastal regions of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Published posthumously and edited by William Frederic Bade, this volume brings together Muir’s daily field notes, scientific remarks, and correspondence, much of which had not previously appeared in print.

Muir’s notes document the conditions and terrain of Alaska’s coastline at a time when few detailed scientific records existed for the region. The entries are structured chronologically, tracing landfalls and glacial regions, with attention to flora, terrain, and sea ice. Bade’s editorial preface contextualizes the publication and Muir’s role in the mission, based on materials housed at the Sierra Club archives. This first printing remains the definitive textual source for Muir’s only Arctic expedition.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Cruise of the Corwin: Journal of the Arctic Expedition of 1881 in Search of De Long and the Jeannette
• Author(s): John Muir

• Contributor(s): [William Frederic Bade (Editor)

• Publisher: Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company (The Riverside Press
• Edition: First Edition, November 1917
• Format: Octavo, single volume
• Binding: Green pictorial cloth
• Size: 8.5 in × 5.75 in (21 cm × 14.5 cm)
• Collation: xxxi, [1], 278, [2] pp
• Illustrations: 28 illustrations
• Contents Include:
  • Prefatory Note by William F. Bade
  • Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury
  • Journal Entries from the Arctic Voyage
  • Glacial, Botanical, and Geological Observations
  • Final Commentary on Alaska and Indigenous Peoples.
• Reference(s): BAL 14773

Condition:

Original publisher’s cloth binding in light green. Light wear to extremities, with minor rubbing to corners. Gilt top edge remains bright. The spine is intact, with slight fraying at head and tail. Binding is internally clean, with no missing leaves. Pages are fresh, with minimal age toning and no markings. Endpapers intact. A well-preserved copy with clear type and solid structure throughout.

Why Collect This?

• First edition publication of Muir’s Arctic fieldwork, dated November 1917
• Edited directly from Muir’s handwritten notes by his literary executor
• Issued by Riverside Press, known for high-quality early 20th-century printwork
• A primary record of late 19th-century Arctic conditions and coastal Alaska
• Sought by collectors of environmental history, polar expeditions, and American science
• INVENTORY NUMBER (SKU): #28642