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Show 428. Muir needed a baroque style to describe this region, but he was locked into the more severe and monumental language of yosemite. This was to become a serious hindrance in the future; the language of Yosemite would not translate to places like the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone. He had spent years creating a language based on the natural harmonies of Yosemite, but now he was in a hurry and used the same language for different landscapes. As Century published it, the essay on Kings Canyon was half illustrations, most taken from sketches by Charles Robinson, or from Muir's own. This was the most elaborately illustrated of Muir's essays, and perhaps he felt pictures were necessary to acquaint legislators with a region they had never seen or heard mentioned. Muir commissioned the profuse illustrations and spent much time with the artist, Robinson, trying to get accurate sketches of the region. It would seem that he finally accepted the political reality that pictures were more likely to impress the eastern Congressmen. Even though these were not photographs, they were a way to certify Muir's experience. As the reader went through the article, he was presented with a page of text facing a page of illustration, one giving reality to vague words which were more elusive and more difficult to test, such profuse illustration was an admission by Muir that his own essay had limitations. The essay was also poorly organized, and lacked a clear direction. Despite this weakness, one can see two important |
