Description:
Large quarto (14 X 10 1/2 inches) San Francisco: David Magee, 1967. One of 475 copies printed by Robert Grabhorn & Andrew Hoyem. 171 pages printed on heavy wove paper, quarter bound brick red leather with title in gilt on the spine, patterned paper over boards, hardcover - very good condition (minor scuffing at head and tale of spine from shelf wear, not affecting contents).Illustrated with 60 plates - full size reproductions showing examples of California Gold Rush letter sheets - one facsimile is in a pocket at the rear of the book. Also included: a selective bibliography; an index of artists, engravers, lithographers, and publishers; and a subject and title index.
A checklist and census of artists and printers who produced "... thousands of vivid pictorial records on sheets of writing paper, (that) remain the major surviving visual account of California of that era....," both during and after the California Gold Rush.
"A . . . curious blend of local enthusiasm and topical recording ...… Read More