HISTORY OF THE BIG BONANZA

Hartford, Conn: American Publishing Company, 1876. An authentic account of the discovery, history, and working of the world renowned Comstock Silver Lode of Nevada. Including the present condition of the various mines situated thereon; sketches of the most prominent men interested in them; incidents and adventures connected with mining, the Indians, and the country, anecdotes, &c., &c. and a full exposition of the production of pure silver. Introduction by Mark Twain. Pp. 570 (last blank), 2 frontispieces with tissue guard, and 64 plates within pagination, text illustrations and decorations, appendix (Mexican mining terms); demy 8vo; rebound in later brown boards, spine blocked in black and lettered & ruled in gilt; later endpapers, name stamp on title and Contents pages, the title page slightly chipped and browned at bottom edge small number stamp on p. 17 and the final blank, a little light foxing; American Publishing Company/A. L. Bancroft & Co., Hartford, Conn./San Francisco, 1876. First edition, first issue. *With plate 44 (Residence of Hon J. P. Jones) replaced by an unlisted plate (Waste Rock). Dan de Quille was the pseudonym of journalist (and former gold prospector) William Wright (1829-1898), who worked with Mark Twain on the Territorial Enterprise in the 1860s.