THE VERTICAL WORLD OF YOSEMITE : A COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND WRITINGS ON ROCK CLIMBING IN YOSEMITE (SIGNED) Hardcover - 1974

Berkeley, Ca: Wilderness Press, 1974. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine / Very Good Plus. Quarto, 11.3 in. x 8.7 in., pp. 206. Inscribed and signed by the editor on the half title page. Illustrated with black and white and color photographs. Light blue cloth boards with gilt title to front and to spine. Very light rubbing to dustjacket edges. Protected in mylar. A collection of 17 articles by such noted Yosemite climbers as Steck, Harding, Robbins, Chouinard, Robinson, Pratt, and others. This is Rowell's first book. "Galen Rowell (1940-2002), an outstanding landscape photographer, practiced what he termed ''participatory photography,'' seeking to infuse the pictures he took with his own feelings about the scene before him rather than settling for the role of observer with a camera. What drew him to photography, he said, was not a desire to see the world through a camera but an intense devotion to the wilderness, which also lead him to become an avid mountaineer. "Mr. Rowell made skillful use of natural light to create scenes of striking beauty, often shot through with a deep sense of loneliness. ''Still photographs,'' he once wrote, ''especially those originally matched to a strong vision, are virtually unforgettable.'' Over the last 20 years Mr. Rowell made more than 30 photographic journeys through the mountains of Nepal, India, Tibet, China, Africa, Alaska, Siberia, New Zealand and Patagonia, as well as climbing in the High Sierras of the western United States. He published 16 books of photographs. (from New York Times Obituaries 8/14/2002).