CALIFORNIA AND ITS RESOURCES. A WORK FOR THE MERCHANT, THE CAPITALIST, AND THE EMIGRANT

London: Trubner and Co., 1858.. [4],168,[1]pp. plus eighteen plates (eight colored or tinted, one folded), two folding maps, and advertisements. Tinted lithographic frontispiece. Antique-style three-quarter calf and marbled boards, raised bands, gilt morocco label. Light edge wear, joints a bit worn. Bookplate on front pastedown. Light tanning, occasional foxing, but generally clean internally. Very good. "One of the best early surveys of the natural resources of California" - Currey & Kruska. A thorough and lively work on California, with much on the state's natural resources, history, and economy, as well as its gold fields and agricultural prospects. The tinted frontispiece showing Yosemite Falls and another tinted plate showing Yosemite Valley were derived from sketches made in 1855, and appear to be the first views of Yosemite Valley to be published in a book. Other illustrations show buildings in San Francisco, forest scenes, and mining operations. Wheat says the illustrations "are of much Gold Rush significance." One map shows all of California, while the other shows several routes to California from England and Europe, including overland from New York or New Orleans, across the Isthmus of Panama, or around the Horn. "Scarce....One of the best books on the resources of California, with much historical material on the Vigilance Committee" - Howell. COWAN, p.577. ROCQ 17136. CURREY & KRUSKA 296. HOWELL 50:832. HOWES S310, "aa." SABIN 79633. WHEAT GOLD RUSH 181. ABBEY 662.