SIGHTS IN THE GOLD REGION, AND SCENES BY THE WAY de Johnson, Theodore T - 1850

New York: Baker and Scribner, 1850. Second Edition (Revised and Enlarged). Hardcover. Good Minus. 12mo, 7.3 in. x 5 in., pp. xii, 324. Illustrated with color frontis picture of San Francisco, fold-out map (7.2 in. x 6.5 in.) of "The Gold Region," and six additional plates. Contemporary brown cloth boards with elaborate frame stamped in blind to front and back; gilt prospector stamped to front, and stamped in blind to back. Gilt title and decorative floral design to spine. Ex-library, with library bookplate to front pastedown and embossment stamp to title page. Rubbing to extremities; corners showing. Head and tail spine-caps missing. One signature detached but preesent. Light, occasional spotting throughout. "Theodore Taylor Johnson of New Jersey sailed to California in February 1849 and had returned home by the end of June. Sights in the gold region (1849) is the first published book to relate authentic personal experiences in the California gold fields. Johnson describes his voyage to California and Panama crossing and prospecting in the Culomma Valley. He also writes of his return to San Francisco in the hope of finding work at the end of spring and his discouraged decision to take passage home, again crossing the Isthmus again at Chagres. Personal recollections are fleshed out with second hand discussions of the state's history and culture." (from Google Books).