1875

Primary Sources
Miller, Joaquin. First Fam'lies in the Sierras. London: George Routlege & Sons, 1875. 151 pages. [OAK] [PMC] Revised in dramatic form as The Danites in the Sierras.) [MGK] [FST] [HON] [RCL] [HUN] [STANFORD-MELVYL] [MCK]
[See also 1876, 1881, 1889.] Miller says (1910: Vol. 6 p. v) “An alert actor helped me put together The First Woman in the Forks and The Last Man of Mexican Camp as a play called The First Fam'lies in the Sierras. Then I put it into book form and published it in London and Chicago.” Miller, Joaquin 1837 [40]-1913. [MGK]
-----. The Ship in the Desert. London: Chapman & Hall, 1875. 140 pages. [PMC] [USC] [MCK] [HON has a holograph letter, signed by Miller, laid in.] [See 1859 Over Yon Desert for precursor poem.] [MGK]
-----. The Ship in the Desert. Boston: Roberts Bros. 1st Edition. 205 pp. [MGK] [ [UOL has three copies.] [OAK] [RCL] [NUV] [USC] [SPL] [HON has a first edition, inscribed by the author with a holograph letter inserted. Copyright 1875 by C.H. Miller. Preface signed, "Joaquin Miller Lake Como, Italy."] [Middlebury College] [AAS has a first edition.] [HUN says materially extended and reissued, Boston 1875.] [CAM list has Songs of the Desert, Boston.] [MGK]
-----. Songs of the Sun-Lands. Boston: Roberts Bros. (Copyright 1873.) 212 pages. [HON] [UOL] [LHM] [HUN says Songs of the Sierras.] [MGK]
-----. Unwritten History: Life Amongst the Modocs. Hartford, CT: American Publishing Company, 1875. 445 pages. [HUN] [See also 1873, 1874] [MGK] [MCK]
-----. Across the Plains. Poem from Songs of the Sunlands. The Pacific Coast Fifth Reader. 1875: p. 245. Revised edition. Pacific Coast Series. San Francisco: A.L. Bancroft & Co., 1874 copyright. [MGK]
-----. The Elocutionist's Annual No. 3. By J.W. Shoemaker. Philadelphia, 1875. [BAL (6:211)] [MGK]
-----. The Future of California from Songs of the Sierras. In Choice Specimens
of American Literature, & Literary Reader, Being Selections From the Chief American Writers by Benjamin N. Martin, 1875:516 (#432). [MOA] [MCK]
-----. The March Through the Tropic Woods. The Pacific Coast Fourth Reader. Revised edition. Pacific Coast Series. San Francisco: A.L. Bancroft & Co., 1874 copyright. pp. 118-120. [See also 1874, 1877.] [MGK]
-----. Sketch At Sea and I stand beside the Mobile Sea. In Sea and Shore... Boston Publishing. [BAL (6:211) notes that the former is reprinted from Songs of the Sun-Lands, 1873.] [The latter is extracted from "Californian," Songs of the Sierras, 1871.] [MGK]
-----. Common Evils of the Church of Scotland, 1875. Listed in “Joaquin Miller
Books.” (60 entries) [OHS Clippings File] [MCK] [Not listed elsewhere, possibly an article.] [MGK]
-----. Metaphysics, 1875. Listed in “Joaquin Miller Books.” (60 entries) [OHS
Clippings File] [MCK] [Not listed elsewhere, possibly an article ] [MGK]
-----. In Venice. Overland Monthly 14.1 (January 1875): 30 [Dated "Venice, 1874."] [OAK] [HON] [CAL] [SPL] [MGK] [MCK]
-----. “In Titian's Birthplace, I.” [Cadore] The Independent 27.1364 (21 January 1875): 2. [HON] [Miller compares the scenery to that of the Devil's Castle (now Castle Crags) and the people to the Indians of the Sacramento River, Shasta County, California.] [MGK]
-----. “In Titian's Birthplace, II.” [Titian 1487-1576.] The Independent 27.1365 (28 January 1875): 1 [HON] [MGK]
-----. To the Lion of Venice. Overland Monthly 14.2 (February 1875): 122 [Dated "Venice, 1874."] [OAK] [HON] [CAL] [SPL] [MGK]
-----. William Brown, of Oregon. Sacramento Daily Union. 48.7439 p. 2:2. (6 February 1875) p.2: 2. [CAL] [Also appears in Earle V. Well's Ballads of Eldorado (1940), p. 19.] [MGK]
-----. “Tom Hood.” [1799 - 1845] [A eulogy for Tom Hood, Jr., his English publisher friend, editor of Fun magazine.] The Independent 27.1367 (11 February 1875): 1-2. [HON] [Hood also edited Comic Annuals 1830-39, 1842] [MGK]
-----. The Throne of Attila. Scribner's Monthly Magazine 9.5 (March 1875): 623-624. [Written in Venice, 1874.] [HON] [MOA] [MCK] [WWU:LAC 30723] [Scribner's Monthly Magazine. Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819-1881), ed. absorbed Hours at Home, Putnam's Magazine, and Riverside in 1870, Old and New in 1875, continued in 1881 as Century Magazine.] [MGK]
-----. To the Lion of Saint Mark. Overland Monthly 14.3 (March 1875): 218-219 [Dated "Venice, 1874."] [OAK] [HON] [CAL] [SPL] [MCK] [A tear copy exists of the poem Farewell To The Lion Of Saint Mark with the “Farewell” lined out and signed by Miller] [FRS] [MGK]
-----. Thou TO-MORROW. The Independent. New York. 27.1370 (4 March 1875): 1 [HON] [MGK]
-----. Pioneers of the Pacific. Overland Monthly. 14.4 (April 1875): 314-315 [OAK] [HON] [CAL] [SPL] [MGK] [MOA] [MCK]
Oregon Historical Society 1 (1900): 397 [HGT] [MCK]
-----. My Faith. The Independent. 27.1374 (1 April 1875): 1 [HON] [MGK]
-----. Missouri [the river]. The Independent. 27.1377 (22 April 1875): 1 [HON] [MGK]
-----. Shadows of the Plains. Overland Monthly. Old Series: 14.5 (May 1875): 426-427. New Series: 51 (May 1875: 62-63 [PMC] [OAK] [CAL] [SPL] [MGK] [MOA] [MCK]
-----. “A Wedding in the Sierras.” The Independent. New York. 27.1381 (20 May 1875): 1-2 [HON] [MGK]
-----. “Joaquin Miller to His Parents.” From the Salem Statesman. A copy of his inscription to The Ship in the Desert. Written at Lake Como, August 1874. [First time in print through the courtesy of Mem Linton.] Reprinted in Daily Alta California 27.9205 (16 June 1875): 2:7 [CAL] [MGK]
-----. “Washee, Washee.” [Prose] The Independent. New York 26.1386 (24 June 1875): 1-3 [HON] [A poem by the same name, but with a hyphen rather than a comma, appears in the May 18, 1882 The Independent.] [MGK]
-----. “In a California Eden.” Overland Monthly.
Chapter I: “The First Elections,” Vol. 14.6 (June 1875): 549-556;
Chapter II: Vol. 14.6 (June 1875): 79-87;
Chapter III: “What's the Matter Now?” Vol.15.1 (July 1875): 144-151;
Chapter IV: “Captain Tommy,” Vol. 15.2 (August 1875): 235-241;
Chapter V: Vol. 15.2 (August 1875): 355-363.
June through October 1875. [OAK] [CAL] [SPL]
[HON says “I-VI, June-September.”]
[VI: “A Flag of Truce,” pp. 235-241.
VIII: “A Wedding in Camp,” pp. 355-363.]
[Jack London's Martin Eden connection ?] [MGK]
Chapter VI-VII: 15.3 (September 1875): 235-241 [MOA] [MCK]
Chapter VIII-IX: 15.4 (October 1875): 355-363 [MOA] [MCK]
-----. St. Louis Globe Democrat (28 June 1875) [How the Quaker city looks to the Untamed Poet of the Western Wilds.] [MGK]
-----. The Ship of Solomon. Overland Monthly,15.1 (July 1875): 33 [OAK] [HON] [CAL] [MGK] [MCK]
-----. The Ship of Solomon. Turner's Public Spirit. Ayer, Mass. (10 July 1875) [MGK]
-----. Sunrise in Venice. New York Times. (11 July 1875): 4:1 [From Harper's Magazine.] [MGK]
-----. The Pilgrims of the Plains. The Independent. 27.1389 (15 July 1875): 1 [HON] [MGK]
-----. Pilgrims of the Plains. New York Times. (18 July 1875): 4:4 [Reprinted 1900 Oregon Historical Quarterly.] [MGK]
-----. The Ideal and the Real. Appleton's Journal. (24 July 1875) [HON] [WWU] [MGK]
-----. Arizona Plains. The Independent. 27.1391 (25 July 1875): 5 [HON] [MGK]
-----. Sunrise in Venice. Harper's New Monthly Magazine. 51.303 (August 1875): 313-314 [Written in Venice in 1874.) [MCK] [MOA] [HON] [WWU] [MGK]
-----. “Through the Roman Ghetto.” The Independent. 27.1392 (5 August 1875): 1-2. [HON] [MGK]
-----. Morgan of Panama. Appleton's Journal. 14.334 (14 August 1875): 211 [HON] [MGK] [MOA] [MCK]
-----. “London in Charcoal Part II.” The Independent. New York. (14 August 1875) [See 1879.] [MGK]
-----. Il Capucin. The Independent. 27.1395 (20 August 1875): 1 [HON] [MGK]
-----. “London in Charcoal Part III.” The Independent. New York. (21 August 1875) [See 1879.] [MGK]
-----. “London in Charcoal Part IV.” The Independent. New York. (28 August 1875) [See 1879.] [MGK]
-----. Crossing the Mexican Desert. Overland Monthly 15 (September 1875): 229-230. [OAK] [HON] [CAL] [SPL] [MGK] [MOA] [MCK]
-----. “Philadelphia Revisited.” The Independent. New York. 27.1396 (2 September 1875): 4-5 [HON] [MGK] [Slow preparations for the Centennial Exhibition and the “Prize Horrible Quarter” inhabited by the Negro and the Irish.]
-----. “A Photograph of the President.” [Ulysses S. Grant 1822-1885] The Independent 27.1399 (23 September 1875) (See also March 31, or April 7, 1901). [HON] [MGK]
-----. The Emigrants Crossing the Plains. Daily Alta Californian 27. 9331 (21 October 1875) p.6: 1
-----. The Unknown Tongue. The Independent 27. 1407 (18 November 1875) p.1 [HON]
[A poem about his Indian daughter reprinted in The Golden Era (January 1891] [MGK]
-----. “Among the Ruins of Rome.”
Part I, Overland Monthly 15.5 (November 1875): 447-463. [MOA] [MGK]
Part II, Overand Monthly 15.6 (December 1875): 519-525. [MOA] [MGK]
-----The Unknown Tongue. The Independent (18 November 1875) [HON] [MGK]

Secondary Sources
“The March Magazines: Scribner’s Monthly.” New York Times (23 February 1875): 3 [MCK] [NYT online]. Joaquin Miller listed as a contributor.
Review of The Ship in the Desert. Vanity Fair 14 (3 July 1875): 13. [RCL] [MGK] [MCK]
“The British public should be proud of having discovered Joaquim [sic] Miller. In his new work he continues in the vein of the his first and most successful book, and he shows the freshness, fire, and vigor wanting in more refined and polished poets.” [RCL 27]
Saintsbury, George. Review of First Fam’lies of the Sierras. The Academy n.s. 8 (10 July 1875): 34. [RCL] [MGK] [MCK]
“This work will not increase Mr. Miller’s fame. ‘It bears a strong family
likeness to The Luck of Roaring Camp but cannot be compared with it in
point of merit.’” [RCL 27]
“Mr. Miller’s New Poem.” Review of The Ship in the Desert. The Athenaeum 2489, (10 July 1875): 45. [RCL] [BSL]
“ ‘Never before have we had occasion to read a poem so vague in conception and execution.’ We could describe the book as ‘an idle tale but idly told.’” [RCL 26]
“Affairs at Long Branch, N. J.” New York Times (29 July 1875): 1 [MCK] [NYT online]
Arrivals for the 28th. Joaquin is listed at the Ocean Hotel.
“Arrivals at the Hotels.” New York Times (14 August 1875): 10 [MCK] [NYT online]
Joaquin at Barnum’s Hotel.
“Literary.” Appleton’s 14.335 (21 August 1875): 249. [MOA] [MCK]
Reprint of Rev. of First Families in the Sierras, The Academy
Fisher, Walt M. “Yea Yea, and Nay Nay.” Overland Monthly (September 1875): 289.
[MOA] [MCK]
Sketch about Miller from Cincinnati Times rptd. in the San Francisco Chronicle (5 September 1875): 2:6 [CAL] [MGK]
Browne, J. Ross. “A Quarter of a Century.” Overland Monthly 15.4 (October 1875):
354. [MOA] [MCK]
Review of The Ship of [in] the Desert. The Literary World 6 (1 October 1875): 71. [RCL] [MOA] [MCK]
“Consists of lengthy quotations from the preface and the poem itself. No critical comment” [RCL 27]
“Minor Poets.” Review of the The Ship in the Desert. The Examiner 3492, (2 October 1875): 1114. [RCL] [BSL says 114.] [MCK]
“Review of The Ship in the Desert by Joaquim [sic] Miller. Brief notice. He has made literary capital out of his surroundings, but he already had a vivid imagination and a powerful descriptive talent.” (RCL 26).
“Gen. Butler on Finance. The meeting at Cooper Institute Last Night - The Sort of
Currency Advocated by the Massachusetts Statesman” New York Times (15
October 1875): 8. [MCK] [NYT online]
Note that General Butler along with Joaquin arrived 5 minutes before the time scheduled for the address.
“Recent Poetry.” Rev. of The Ship in the Desert. The London Times (16 October 1875): 4. [RCL] [BSL] [MGK] [MCK]
“Review of The Ship in the Desert. Praises the work as fresh, vigorous, and poetic, though with little narrative interest. ‘Whitman is the poet of democracy and the future, Mr. Miller of the pioneers and the prairies.’” [RCL 27]
“New Publications.” Review of The Ship in the Desert. New York Times 26 October 1875: 2. [RCL] [MGK] [MCK] [NYT online]
Review of First Fam’lies of the Sierras. The Spectator 48 (6 November 1875): 1394-1395. [RCL] [BSL] [MCK]
“Compares Miller and Bret Harte in their depiction of frontier characters and finds Miller sadly lacking. Only in his descriptive passages does he succeed in creating a ‘fascination of awe.’” [RCL 26]
“The Poet Clown.” Daily Alta California 27.9361 (20 November 1875): 2:1. [CAL] [MGK]
Marysville Weekly Appeal (26 November 1875): 2:2. [CAL “Joaquin Miller would be more of a man—if less a poet—if he would come home and help his wife pay the rent...”] [MGK]
“Literary.” Review of The Ship in the Desert. Appleton’s Journal 14.349 (27 November 1875): 694-695. [RCL] [MOA] [MCK] [MGK]
Bartlett, William C. “Literature and Art in California.” Overland Monthly 15 (December
1875): 544. [MOA] [RCL] [MGK] [MCK]
“Miscellany and Advertiser.” Galaxy 20.6 (December 1875): np. [MOA] [MCK]
“A new serial story will soon be commenced in ‘The Galaxy,’ by Joaquin Miller, the brilliant and eccentric poet. It is called “The One Fair Woman,” and will be issued in London and New York simultaneously.”
“Arrivals at the Hotels.” New York Times (2 December 1875): 8 [MCK] [NYT online]
Joaquin Miller at Westmoreland Hotel.

Letters and Archival Papers
Miller, Joaquin. Letter to [Charles Warren Stoddard] from [London]. 1875? 4 p. [Addressed: My dear Charley and Frank.] [Huntington Library, U.6 B10 L.F., HM 11274.]
-----. Letter to [Charles Warren Stoddard]. 1875? 2 p. [Addressed: Dear Charlie.] [Huntington Library, U.6 B10 L.F., HM 11281.]
-----. Letter to John M. May. (28 May 1875) [UCLC] List #32178 RPB-JH [BAN]
-----. Letter to editor of Post dated June 12. [HON has in JM Box I: folder 1:2.]
-----. Letter to John Eliot Bowen on 8/29/1875. [HON has in JM Box I: folder 1:3.]
-----. Letter to William Hayes Ward from Highland Falls, [New York] (8 September 1875) 2 p. [Huntington Library U. 6B10 H.M. 11261.] [MGK]
-----. Letter to Earl Marble on Nov. 19, 1875 [HON has in JM Box 1: folder 2.] [MGK]
The 1875 Daily State Journal. Lincoln, NE should be researched for articles by or about Miller [MGK]

 
Bibliography: Printable

1840, 1851, 1852, 1854, 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858. 1859. 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958. 1959. 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006