Scenes of wonder and curiosity in California. Illustrated by ninety-two well executed engravings, including the mammoth trees of Calaveras; caves and natural bridges; the Yo-Semite Valley; the mammoth trees of Mariposa and Frezno; Mount Shasta; the quicksilver mines of New Almaden and Henriquita; the Farallone Islands; the geyser springs, etc. By J. M. Hutchings. San Francisco: Hutchings & Rosenfield, Publishers, Montgomery Street, n.d. [1860]. 23x14.5 cm (12mo), pp. [1-3] 4-5 [6] 7-8 [9] 10-236, flyleaves at front and rear, 93 illustrations, original decorated black cloth, front and rear panels stamped in blind, spine panel stamped in gold and blind, yellow endpapers. First edition, first printing. A pioneer tourist guide that provided the first book length description of the state's natural attractions and was the first work to describe the big trees and the Yosemite region in detail. The text was drawn, with revisions, from articles which appeared in Hutchings' California Magazine (1856-1861). The illustrations in printings of the first edition were cuts used in the first four volumes of the magazine. Printings of the second and third editions added several illustrations from volume five. Currey and Kruska 164. Farquhar (1948) 4a. Cloth worn and chipped at spine ends and corner tips, some scattered foxing in the text but much less than usually found, a good or better copy. An average copy of a book seldom found in decent condition. Provenance: "Property of / Henry Edwards / from / Wm P Pratt / San Francisco" in pencil on the front free endpaper. (#166046).
No statement of printing.