EXPERIENCES OF A FORTY-NINER; A Member of the Wagon Train First to Enter California in the Memorable Year 1849 by Johnston, Wm. G - 1892

Pittsburgh, PA, 1892. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good Plus. Octavo, 9 in. x 6.5 in., pp. 390. Illustrated wtih frontis and thirteen plates. Rebound in green cloth over beveled boards with diamond pattern and "1849" in gilt to front, mimicking the original publication's boards. Black title on white paper label to spine. Title page worn and partially detached at gutter. Edgewear to title and dedication pages. Age-toning to leaves. Howes J173. "Some copies contain a blue-print-map... issued later for insertion" This copy was printed before the map was available, and does not feature the later-issued map.

One of the best overland accounts of those journeying to the gold diggings. Johnston was a member of the first wagon train to enter California in 1849.

William G. Johnston and Company, founded in 1857, was a well known Pittsburgh printing and book-binding firm in the late 1800s and early 1900s. William G. Johnston, the son of a prominent Pittsburgh printer was born August 22, 1828. He attended the Western University of Pennsylvania (now, the University of Pittsburgh) before organizing a party to head to California during the 1849 gold rush. In 1857, Johnston founded the William G. Johnston and Company at Wood St. and Second Ave. and later erected a new building at 900 Penn Ave. and Ninth St., Pittsburgh, to house the company. Johnston died on June 1, 1913.