Beyond The Sierras; or, Observations on the Pacific Coast

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co, 1877. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Duodecimo size, 259 pp., inscribed by "the author" As a current book review stated, "It seems like a dream to have seen the first vessel sailing for this El Dorado in 1848, and now within thirty years to be reviewing the history of an Empire". Not surprisingly for a farm boy (see below), part of this book extolls the "returns of nature to the husbandman" - the review states that "no where in America is the harvest, owing to the freedome from dampness, more certain than in California". The volume contains many more observations and notes on the area, including the giant trees of Yosemite, with measurements given of "the greater monsters", a chapter on the (alas, somewhat prevalent view of the day) of the "Heathen Chinee", and observations on the educational faciliites and charitable institutions, which are claimed to be "second to none". The author offers some interesting observations, such as "Do not try to beat a professional gambler out of his coin", "never touch spirituous liquors, leave drinking to the pioneers of '49" and " no man should entertain the thought for a moment of starting in business on borrowed capital".

The Rev. Augustus Havens Tevis (1841-1904) was born in Indiana to a farming family and left college in 1861 to enlist as a Union solider in the Civil War, serving for three years. He was mustered out in November of 1864 and re-entered college, graduating with his A.M. degree in 1868. After travelling for the church as far away as Palestine and Peru, he was sent to Carson City, Nevada (N.B., the dedicatee of the book is the Hon. Wirt Hopkins, of Carson City); it was there he wrote two books, including this one. He moved to Santa Barbara, becoming the fifth minister to be appointed to the First United Methodist Church in 1875, from thence he was sent to San Diego, eventually returning to Indiana. Volume seeminly somewhat scarce to the trade, particularly inscribed.

___DESCRIPTION: Light brown cloth boards, blind-stamped ruled borders on front and rear boards, gilt lettering, decoration and ruled borders on spine, brown coated endpapers, tissue-guarded frontispiece, volume has eight plates total with four of them being of places within Yosemite, INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR on the verso of the rear flyleaf, upside-down (as though someone handed him the book to sign with the rear board facing him, and it was simply opened and inscribed without confirming that the book was "right-side up"), with the inscription reading "John Higgs Esq. / from / The Author"; duodecimo size (approximately 7 1/8" tall), pagination: (1)-259.

___CONDITION: Very good overall, with clean binding, a square text block, front hinge just starting and rear hinge solid, all eight plates called for in OCLC present, the interior is clean and bright, and the volume is entirely free or prior owner markings; there is some wear to head and tail of the spine, the upper rear joint has a short separation in outer cloth (approximately one-half inch), and the corners are gently bumped/rubbed; note that the gathering of pages 145-156 is held only by one thread, and there is a 1/8" chip out of the rear endpaper.

___CITATIONS: Rocq no. 17180, OCLC no. 9353598.

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