What I Saw in California: Its Soil, Climate, Productions, and Gold Mines; "All which I saw and part of which I was" - Dryden
London: G. Routledge and Co., 1849. Good. Second Edition. [7.25x4.75in] vi, 137 pp., advertisements; Tan paper wrappers with sewn binding, black lettering and border design on front, advertisements on back cover and verso of front and back covers, all edges trimmed; Substantial shelf and use wear to covers and text edges and corners, spine perished, front cover soiled, darken and detached and with chips and closed tears, verso of front cover portion of advertisement printing missing, back cover soiled and darken with chips at top and bottom joints, several first leaves to p. 18 detached, text block with typical age toning, no stains or foxing, folding map lacking. Only four copies located on OCLC. Very scarce. [Kurutz 95d variant and note, Eberstadt 105:49, Howes B903 note, Wagner 146:4 note, OCLC 21459088] DK. Item #14464
Edwin Bryant [1805-1869] joined the Russell expedition to California in May 1846 [during the journey, the Donner Party joined them for a while]. When he arrived in San Francisco, he volunteered to serve with Fremont as part of the military government of California and was latter selected by General Kearny to be the Acalade [mayor/judge] of San Francisco. In 1847, he returned to the east and published this book in 1848. Camp stated it was “... most detailed and reliable of all the overland journals” of 1848 and it described California before the discovery of gold. After 1849, there was greater interest in California and the book was reissued and revised many times and in many languages. Bryant became the foremost lecturer in all things California. This fine press issue is a reprint of the 1848 edition and Wilbur adds to the issue with extensive annotations and bibliography.
This 1849 paperback publication by Routledge and Son was an inexpensive abridged guide to meet the demand for more information about California after President Polk's announcement of the significant gold findings in California in December 1848. The small paperback format, with a map of the California and the West (lacking in this copy), was a convenient travel book for the gold seekers and very few have survived. A nice addition to Bryant's first editions and California Gold Rush collection.
Price: $550.00