HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: With Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery, Residences, Fine Blocks and Manufactories, From Original Sketches by Artists of the Highest Ability

Quarto in oblong format (11 by 14 1/2 inches) Oakland, California: Thompson & West [Printed by Pacific Press Printing and Publishing House], 1880. First, Original Edition. [3] iv-vi [2], [1] 12-192 pages; eighty-seven full page lithographic views, including a double page bird's-eye-view of the Wolfskill Ranch; full page colored map showing the Western States of Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California dated 1878.

Good condition: stamped-embossed original cloth over boards, with title in gilt centered on the front cover; professionally re-backed, with new corners, new endpapers to match the period; title in gilt on spine. Loss to lower right margin of one view, not affecting that image, archival repair to tear in margin of another plate, not affecting that image; another view, and pages 19-22, 37-38, 129-130 provided in facsimile, and are compatible to the contents - the book is in otherwise original condition, with binding and contents intact.

The fine plates are of local businesses, residences, farms, railroad stations, and other idealized images reflecting the progress and opportunities of a growing community, all described in an informative text. Topics include county organization, geology, topography, and government; climate, earthquakes, and water; industries; crimes; townships; biographical sketches; a chronological table and a directory of subscribers.

A section at the back titled: "Business Directories of Our Subscribers in the Several Townships of Los Angeles County" includes, among others, Anaheim, Azusa, and Santa Ana that are now part of Orange County.

A font of rich local information captured prior to the Boom of the 1880s.