Sierra Club Books was the publishing division, for both adults and children, of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, w ...

, founded in by then club President

David Brower David Ross Brower (; July 1, 1912 – November 5, 2000) was a prominent environmentalist and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies (1997), Friends of the Earth (1969), Earth ...

. They were a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

publishing company located in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

with a concentration on biological conservation. In the adult division of the organization was sold to Counterpoint LLC and the childrens books division to Gibbs Smith.

History

The Sierra Club started its book program in , when David Brower, an

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, ...

with the

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...

, became the club’s

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, thoug ...

. In , they published the first of its climbers’ and hikers’ guides. In , when the Sierra Club Books began, they published the ‘Exhibit Format Book Series’, a collection of

nature photography Nature photography is a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to put a stronger emphasis o ...

and in they published their first color volume, Elliot Porter’s ''In Wilderness Is the Preservation of the World''. Volumes intended for club members had been

published Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, new ...

prior to . In addition,

books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physica ...

under their name had been published before , but done through already established publishers, as was the case with ''This Is Dinosaur'', published by Alfred A. Knopf. Their first in-house book, volume 1 in the Exhibit Format series, was ''This is the American Earth'', published in . In , they introduced

color photography Color photography is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray- monochrome photography records only a single channel of luminance (brightness) and uses media capable only of ...

to the series with the publication of ''In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World'' with

photographs A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now creat ...

by Eliot Porter and ''Island In Time: The Point Reyes Peninsula'' with photographs by Philip Hyde. The series won the

Carey–Thomas Award ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

for creative publishing, by

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

. Fifty thousand copies were sold in the first four years, and by sales exceeded . The books were successful in introducing the public to wilderness preservation and to the Sierra Club.

Paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, le ...

reprints of many of the Exhibit Format books were published by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remain ...

. After Brower left the Club in , the club came under the leadership of Jon Beckmann from to . During Beckmann's tenure the program expanded and diversified considerably, publishing books by established and emerging

writers A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

such as

Wendell Berry Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays of ...

Robert Bly Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is '' Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990), which spent 62 weeks on ...

Galen Rowell Galen Avery Rowell (August 23, 1940 – August 11, 2002) was a wilderness photographer, adventure photojournalist and mountaineer. Born in Oakland, California, he became a full-time photographer in 1972. Early life and education Rowell was intr ...

, and David Rains Wallace as well as

field guides A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects exi ...

, fiction,

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

, and books on environmental

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

, such as the Sierra Club Battlebooks. Many Sierra Club books were produced by the Yolla Bolly Press run by Jim and Carolyn Robertson in Covelo, California.The program continued for two decades after , first under Peter Beren, the former

marketing director A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a global marketing officer or marketing director, or chief brand officer, is a corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. Whilst historically these titles may ...

, then under Helen Sweetland, the former

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

. The press closed in with the adult division of the organization being sold to Counterpoint LLC and the childrens books division to Gibbs Smith. The Club continues to publish the ''Sierra Club Wilderness Calendar'' and the ''Sierra Club Engagement Calendar'' annually, which are perennial bestsellers. They are distributed to the book trade by Publishers Group West.

Partial bibliography

Exhibit Format

* () ''This is the American Earth'',

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...

and

Nancy Newhall Nancy Wynne Newhall (May 9, 1908 – July 7, 1974) was an American photography critic. She is best known for writing the text to accompany photographs by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, but was also a widely published writer on photography, cons ...

* () ''Words of the Earth'', photographs by Cedric Wright * () ''Time and the River Flowing: Grand Canyon'', Philip Hyde and Franćois Leydet * () ''These We Inherit: The Parklands of America'', Ansel Adams * () ''In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World'', Henry David Thoreau * () ''The Place No One Knew: Glen Canyon on the Colorado'', Eliot Porter * () ''Ansel Adams: A Biography, Volume 1: The Eloquent Light'', Nancy Newhall * () ''The Last Redwoods: Photographs and Story of a Vanishing Scenic Resource'', Philip Hyde and Franćois Leydet * () ''Gentle Wilderness: The Sierra Nevada'',

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist ...

and

Richard Kauffman Richard L. Kauffman (born February 10, 1955) is the first New York State " energy czar," officially referred to as the ''Chairman of Energy and Finance for New York'' in the administration of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. In this role, Kauffma ...

* () ''Not Man Apart: Photographs of the Big Sur Coast'',

Robinson Jeffers John Robinson Jeffers (January 10, 1887 – January 20, 1962) was an American poet, known for his work about the central California coast. Much of Jeffers's poetry was written in narrative and epic form. However, he is also known for his shorte ...

* () ''The Wild Cascades: Forgotten Parkland'', Harvey Manning * () ''Everest: The West Ridge'', Thomas F. Hornbein * () ''Summer Island: Penobscot Country'', Eliot Porter * () ''Glacier Bay: The Land and the Silence'', Dave Bohn * () ''Navajo Wildlands: As Long as The Rivers Shall Run'', Stephen Jett * () ''Kauai and the Park Country of Hawaii'', Robert Wenkam * () ''Baja California and the Geography of Hope'',

Joseph Wood Krutch Joseph Wood Krutch (; November 25, 1893 – May 22, 1970) was an American author, critic, and naturalist who wrote nature books on the American Southwest. He is known for developing a pantheistic philosophy. Biography Born in Knoxville, Tenne ...

* () ''Central Park Country: A Tune Within Us'',

Mireille Johnston Mireille Johnston, PhD, (''née'' Mireille Busticaccia; 4 October 1935 – 5 October 2000) was a French/American cook, author and scholar who also hosted television shows on the BBC. Biography Johnston was born Mireille Busticaccia in Nice on 4 ...

* () ''Galápagos: The Flow of Wildness - Vol. 1: Discovery'', Eliot Porter * () ''Galápagos: The Flow of Wildness - Vol. 2: Prospect'', Eliot Porter

Battlebooks

* () ''Oil on Ice: Alaskan Wilderness at the Crossroads'', Tom Brown * () ''Mercury: How Much Are We Eating?'', Katherine and Peter Montague

Yolla Bolly Press

* () ''The Wilder Shore'', David Rains Wallace * () ''The Yosemite'', John Muir

Material World

* () ''Material World: A Global Family Portrait'', Charles C. Mann * () ''Women in the Material World'', Faith D'Aluisio

Other

* () ''Island in Time: The Point Reyes Peninsula'',

Philip Hyde (photographer) Philip Hyde (1921–2006) was a pioneer landscape photographer and conservationist. His photographs of the American West were used in more environmental campaigns than those of any other photographer. Education Hyde first attended Ansel Adam ...

* () ''On the Loose'', Terry and Renny Russell * () ''

The Population Bomb ''The Population Bomb'' is a 1968 book co-authored by Stanford University Professor emeritus Paul R. Ehrlich and Stanford senior researcher emeritus in conservation biology Anne Howland Ehrlich. It predicted worldwide famine due to overpopulat ...

'', Paul R. Ehrlich * () ''On the Shore of the Sundown Sea'',

T.H. Watkins Thomas Henry Watkins (March 29, 1936 — February 23, 2000) was an American magazine editor and author primarily between the 1960s to 1990s. As an editor, Watkins primarily worked for The Wilderness Society (United States), The Wilderness Society as ...

* () ''Starr’s Guide to the John Muir Trail and the High Sierra Region'',

Walter A. Starr, Jr. Walter A. "Pete" Starr Jr. (1903–1933) was an American lawyer and mountain climber. A graduate of Stanford University, Starr was a respected lawyer in San Francisco, but he is better known for his abilities as a mountain climber and an explorer ...

* () ''The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture'',

* () ''Nature's Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas'', Donald Worster * () ''The Dark Range: A Naturalist's Night Notebook'', David Rains Wallace * () '' Fifty Classic Climbs of North America'',

Steve Roper Steve Roper is a noted climber and historian of the Sierra Nevada in the United States. He along with Allen Steck are the founding editors of the Sierra Club journal ''Ascent''. Roper is the winner of the Sierra Club's Francis P. Farquhar Mou ...

and Allen Steck * () ''Annapurna: A Woman's Place'',

Arlene Blum Arlene Blum (born March 1, 1945Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life, page 34Chapter 24 /ref>) is an American mountaineer, writer, and environmental health scientist. She is best known for leading the first successful American ascent of Annapurna (I), ...

* () ''The Klamath Knot: Explorations in Myth and Evolution'', David Rains Wallace * () ''In a Grain of Sand: Exploring Design by Nature'',

Andreas Feininger Andreas Bernhard Lyonel Feininger (December 27, 1906 – February 18, 1999) was an American photographer and a writer on photographic technique. He was noted for his dynamic black-and-white scenes of Manhattan and for studies of the structures ...

* () ''Wild by Law: The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund and the Places It Has Saved'', Tom Turner * () ''California's Wild Heritage: Threatened and Endangered Animals in the Golden State'', Peter Steinhart * () ''In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations'',

Jerry Mander Jerry Irwin Mander (born May 1, 1936) is an American activist and author, best known for his 1978 book, '' Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television''. In a more recent book, ''The Capitalism Papers'', Mander argues against capitalism as ...

* () ''Mother Earth: Through the Eyes of Women Photographers and Writers'', Judith Boice, editor * () ''Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind'', Theodore Roszak, Allen D. Kanner and Mary E. Gomes * () ''The Monkey's Bridge: Mysteries of Evolution in Central America'', David Rains Wallace * () ''Bay Area Wild: A Celebration of the Natural Heritage of the San Francisco Bay Area'',

and Michael Sewell * () ''The Winemaker's Marsh: Four Seasons in a Restored Wetland'', Kenneth Brower * () ''Galen Rowell: A Retrospective'', Andy Grundberg * () ''Gloryland: A Novel'', Shelton Johnson

References

{{Portal bar, San Francisco Bay Area Sierra Club Organizations based in San Francisco Book publishing companies based in San Francisco Environmental non-fiction books Environmental publishers Publishing companies established in 1960