A YEAR OF AMERICAN TRAVEL

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1878.. 190,[2]pp. 16mo. Original printed wrappers. Small chips at spine ends and edges of wrappers. Early ownership inscription of "Adelaide Forrester" in upper margin of first text page. Very clean internally. Near fine overall. This book chronicles an exciting year by anyone's standards, the life of the Fremonts from 1848 to 1850. It describes their trip to California to take up pastoral life there after John C. Fremont's retirement from the Army, their acquisition of the vast Mariposa Estate, the discovery of gold and the excitement of California in 1849, and finally their return east. Included are three letters by Fremont relative to his disastrous Fourth Expedition into the mountains of Colorado. Make no mistake, though, this account is clearly written from Jessie Fremont's point of view, and in her voice. Aside from her husband's exploits, she discusses the quality of life for women in the West, the slavery controversy in California, local politics, her trip across the Isthmus in early 1849, Spanish customs, the status of Mission Indians, and more. Her primary motivation for writing the book was to raise money for the family after Fremont's bankruptcy during the Panic of 1873. Jessie's writings, in fact, became the family's most reliable source of income.

"The coincidental events of the California gold discovery combined with her own adventures make her recollections doubly interesting" - Kurutz. Although at first glance this book would not seem a candidate for rarity, considering the prominence of the author and the publishing house (Harper's), the experience of a number of veteran Americanists would suggest otherwise. We have only handled three copies of this work previously, all of those more than twenty years ago. Not in either the Eberstadt or Decker catalogues. HOWES F363. COWAN, p.848. ROCQ 15815. GRAFF 1427. KURUTZ 255a. RADER 1477. REESE, BEST OF THE WEST 86 (note).