[4], xii, 13-496 pp. Illustrated with 28 "photo-typo" plates by Britton & Rey (including frontispiece "In the Heart of the Sierras" after the paintings by C.D. Robinson); numerous wood-engravings, including plates after photographs and paintings; plate of a snow plant printed in red; plus 2 maps (1 folding). 8½x5¾, original decorative olive green cloth, stamped and lettered in gilt, floral-patterned endpapers, all edges gilt. First Edition, Second Printing.
Hutchings, a pioneer of the tourist industry in Yosemite & one of the first to visit there in winter, was Guardian to the Valley & the Mariposa Big Tree Grove between 1880 & 1884. According to Farquhar, In the Heart of the Sierras was Hutchings' crown publishing achievement & "...contains a great deal more...than an account of Hutchings' personal experiences; it covers more fully than any other work of its day every aspect of Yosemite Valley and the Big Trees that could by considered of general interest to visitors." Cowan p.299; Currey & Kruska 175; Farquhar 18b - Second (or later?) issue.