Pen-Knife Sketches, or, Chips of the Old Block; A Series of Original Illustrated Letters, Written by One of California's Pioneer Miners, and Dedicated to that Class of Her Citizens by the Author. Reprinted from the Only Edition (1853) with the Illustrations by Charles Nahl and a New Foreword by G. Ezra Dane

San Francisco: The Grabhorn Press, 1934. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Nahl, Charles. Quarto size, 80 pp. Alonzo Delano (1806 - 1874), who went by the pen name "Old Block", was an American humorist, pioneer town city father, and a California Gold Rush Forty-niner; his sketches of gold rush camp life rivaled Bret Harte and Mark Twain in popularity (N. B. info from Wikipedia). This edition was published by the Grabhorn Press, one of the most highly renowned private presses in America in the twentieth century, run by brothers Edwin and Robert Grabhorn.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in blue-green boards with tan cloth spine, front pastedown with full-colour illustration and title by Charles Nahl, cream paper label on spine with black lettering; frontispiece, twenty headpieces, and four full-page drawings in colour by Nahl, decorative initial capital letters; black and sepia text in Janson linotype in double columns on machine made paper, quarto size (approximately 11.25" tall), 80 pages, limited edition of 550 copies, unnumbered.

___CONDITION: Book is in near fine condition with brightly coloured illustrations, the front label has some minor chips, slight wear to corners and head of the spine.

___CITATION: Grabhorn Press Bibliography, no. 204.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

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