Big Trees of California: Their History and Characteristics

Yosemite Valley, CA: Galen Clark, 1910. Yosemite Valley: Galen Clark, 1910. Second edition. 12mo. Decorative cloth, 104 pp. Decorative endpapers with green leaf design. Twenty rare black and white photograph plates, most by George Fiske. Text is printed surrounded by decorations in green. Galen Clark is famous for his discovery of the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees and for his role as Guardian of Yosemite National Park for several years. Most of the photographers in Big Trees of California were taken by his friend George Fiske, a Yosemite Photographer. George Fiske was born 1835 in New Hampshire and moved west with his brother to San Francisco. He apprenticed with Charles L. Weed and worked with Carleton E. Watkins, both early Yosemite photographers. Fiske and his wife moved to Yosemite in 1879 and lived there until he committed suicide in 1918. Fiske was living alone when he shot himself and he often told his neighbors he was tired of living. Most of his negatives were destroyed when his house burned in 1904. After his death, his remaining negatives were acquired by the Yosemite Park Company and stored neglected in a sawmill attic, which burned in 1943. Ansel Adams suggested they be stored safely in the Yosemite Museum fireproof basement, but his suggestion was ignored. "If that hadn't happened," says Adams, "Fiske could have been revealed today, I firmly believe, as a top photographer, a top interpretive photographer." Archival repair to corner of last page. No writing inside. Hinges sound. Near fine.. Second Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine. Illus. by Fiske, George. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.