Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada [within] The Atlantic Monthly. [4 Parts in 2 volumes]

Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1871 Book. Fine. Hardcover. First issue of this classic title. 4 parts in 2 volumes. Volumes 27 and 28. Pp. 602-613; 704-714; 64-76; 207-215. Publisher's three-quarter black morocco, dark brown cloth sides. Some light scuffing to hinges, a few preliminary leaves in vol. 28 with light stains. A fine, tight and clean set. Here, Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada is presented in its very first appearance, within the issues of The Atlantic Monthly for May, June, July, and August, 1871. As Currey and Kruska state, "King's experiences in the high Sierra at the head of the Kern, Kings, and San Joaquin rivers in 1864, his field work with the survey in the Yosemite region in 1866, and his 1871 attempt to make the first ascent of Mount Whitney... provided material for a series of brilliant literary sketches, seven of which were first published in the Atlantic Monthly during 1871. This material, with minor changes, was combined with additional sketches and published in book form the following year". Francis P. Farquhar, in his noted bibliography, states, "It was King's glacier article in The Atlantic Monthly... that led directly to the publication of Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada. The editors wanted more from this entertaining young author and King was induced to write a series of articles... the papers appeared in the Atlantic in 1871... with few changes, but with some additions, these articles were gathered into the book, which appeared in 1872. The full text of King's Active Glaciers within the United States, the work that convinced James R. Osgood to publish Mountaineering, is presented within the March issue, volume 27 and, of course, preceding the issues for Mountaineering. [Currey and Kruska, Bibliography of Yosemite...: p.110; Farquhar, Yosemite, the Big Trees, and the High Sierra, a Selective Bibliography: p.51-52]..