The Ship in the Desert by Miller, Joaquin - 1875

Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1875. First American edition, but with the signature "C" present (no priority established). 1 vols. 8vo. Original terra-cotta cloth, t.e.g. Bookplates and owner's inked stamps. A little cocked, some rubbing and shelf wear, else very good. First American edition, but with the signature "C" present (no priority established). 1 vols. 8vo. Joaquin Miller's real name was Cincinnatus Hiner (or Heine) Miller (1841?-1913). He adopted the pseudonym as a nickname because his earliest writing was a defense of the Mexican brigand, Joaquin Murietta. He moved with his parents in 1854 from Indiana to Oregon (allegedly in a covered wagon). As a young adult, he was at various times a horse thief, lawyer, pony-express rider, express agent in the gold-mining districts of Idaho, and editor of the Eugene Democratic Register. Eventually he drifted to writing (his first book, Specimens, was published in 1868), and moved to San Francisco, then London where private printings of Pacific Poems (1870) and Songs of the Sierras (1871) brought him great acclaim from the English, who believed him a true frontier poet. Indeed, Miller was hailed as the "Byron of Oregon" - a title Miller tried hard to uphold. See Allibone and OCAL. BAL13760