Zanita: A Tale of the Yosemite; [A romantic novel with a the lead character, Kenmuir, styled after John Muir]
by Yelverton, Therese (Viscountess Avonmore)
- Used
- very good
- first
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
Sebastopol, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1872. First Edition. Very Good. [7.75x5.5in] 296 pp.; Dark green cloth covers with blind stamp border design, gilt lettering, rules and designs on spine, dark brown clay-coated end papers, all edges trimmed; Shelf wear to edges, corners and surfaces, wear and fraying at top and bottom of spine, spine gilt bright with little fading, corners bumped and wear to cloth, bottom edge bumped and rubbed, rubbing to spots on surfaces and joint edges, several signatures weak, some age toning and spots in text, prior owner pencil name with date "Christmas 1871" on first blank page, top edge darken. [Currey-Kruska 399, Farquhar Yosemite #11, Cowan64 p.699, Kruska Hutchings p.117]. Maria Theresa Longworth, Therese Yelverton, Viscountess Avonmore, (1833-1881) was one of the first tourist to visit Yosemite in 1870. She was a British author of travel and fictionalized stories taken from real life experiences. Yelverton spent the summer of 1870 in Yosemite living in the Hutchings House, the only lodging in the Valley. There she met John Muir, along with Hutching's oldest daughter, Florence (the first known non-American Indian born in Yosemite. She spent time with Muir learning about Yosemite Valley and the surrounding area of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. She turned the notes and observations into a novel, with leading characters styled after Muir, Hutchings, Florence and others. as a romantic literary work set in the Valley. From Farquhar, she ". . . spent the summer of 1870 in Yosemite, where she attached herself to the Hutchings family and made eyes at John Muir. He escaped to the woods, but not before she had noted enough of his conversation and his ways of life to make him over into Kenmuir, the hero of her novel." This novel makes the early Yosemite residents come alive in ways that historical accounts do not. The historical novel was a moderate success of only 2,000 copies printed.
Thirteen years earlier, Yelverton married the Major William Charles Yelverton, Viscount Avonmore, secretly in Ireland (Catholic) and another private ceremony in Scotland (Protestant). William, later married another woman, Theresa found out and William was briefly jailed as a bigamist. Charges were dropped and, in 1861, William requested a court declaration to annul the marriage to Theresa. This became a notorious series of trials on the legitimacy of Irish and Scottish marriage laws. Ultimately, there was an appeal to the House of Lords that was denied and Theresa lost her marriage, but gain some international celebrity.
The first, and only, edition of the book was issued in at least 3 variant bindings of green, orange and purple blinded stamped cloth. The heavier and darker brown clay coated end papers in this book, seem to indicate a first printing. The orange binding has a lighter brown clay end papers, and the purple binding has plain end papers. And, it appears the book was released for sale in late December 1871.
Thirteen years earlier, Yelverton married the Major William Charles Yelverton, Viscount Avonmore, secretly in Ireland (Catholic) and another private ceremony in Scotland (Protestant). William, later married another woman, Theresa found out and William was briefly jailed as a bigamist. Charges were dropped and, in 1861, William requested a court declaration to annul the marriage to Theresa. This became a notorious series of trials on the legitimacy of Irish and Scottish marriage laws. Ultimately, there was an appeal to the House of Lords that was denied and Theresa lost her marriage, but gain some international celebrity.
The first, and only, edition of the book was issued in at least 3 variant bindings of green, orange and purple blinded stamped cloth. The heavier and darker brown clay coated end papers in this book, seem to indicate a first printing. The orange binding has a lighter brown clay end papers, and the purple binding has plain end papers. And, it appears the book was released for sale in late December 1871.
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Details
- Bookseller
- David Spilman Fine Books, ABAA & IOBA (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 14011
- Title
- Zanita: A Tale of the Yosemite; [A romantic novel with a the lead character, Kenmuir, styled after John Muir]
- Author
- Yelverton, Therese (Viscountess Avonmore)
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- Hurd and Houghton
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1872
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- Muir, Yosemite, California, Sierra Mountains, fiction
- Bookseller catalogs
- Adventure;
Terms of Sale
David Spilman Fine Books, ABAA & IOBA
All items offered online or in catalogues are subject to prior sale. Trade discount for most items is available and may be limited for consignment items. We will also accept checks that are cleared prior to shipping or invoice clients known to us. 30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives or damaged or not as described. Buyer will be responsible for return shipping, unless item is not as described
About the Seller
David Spilman Fine Books, ABAA & IOBA
Biblio member since 2018
Sebastopol, California
About David Spilman Fine Books, ABAA & IOBA
David Spilman Fine Books, ABAA & IOBA is an online bookseller specializing in fine books, maps, publications, and ephemera related to Exploration, Adventure and World History with a focus on the Polar Regions, California and the American West. A particular interest is in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration from 1895 to 1920's. Other areas of interest are in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and a little bit of this and that.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....