NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, OREGON, AND THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. By Charles Nordhoff. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, Franklin Square, 1874. 22.5 cm (octavo), pp. [1-11] 12 [13] 14-15 [16-17} 18-256, flyleaves at front and rear, illustrations, frontispiece map with tissue guard, other smaller maps in the text, original decorated terra cotta cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black and gold, rear panel stamped in black, brown coated endpapers. First edition. The emphasis of the material on Northern California is on it's natural resources and commercial prospects for the settler; largely reports on agriculture and the timber industry. This is not a tourist guide, although Nordhoff provides some information for the sportsman and excursionist. In his chapter, "The Mendocino Coast and Clear Lake -- General View," Nordhoff remarks that "some of the most picturesque country in California lies on or near the coast north of San Francisco. The coast counties, Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt, Klamath, and Del Norte, are the least visited by strangers, and yet, with Napa, Lake, and Trinity, they make up a region which contains a very great deal of wild and fine scenery, and which abounds with game, and shows to the traveler many varieties of life and several of the peculiar industries of California" (page 149). Charles Nordhoff (1830-1901), a Prussian-born immigrant, "dedicated his life and writings to fostering an understanding of the democratic way of life in America and to furthering the national prosperity. He was particularly interested in the working man, in agriculture, and in cooperative societies ... His purpose in visiting the Pacific Coast soon after the completion of the transcontinental railroad was to get information about the resources of the western slope for travel and for immigration. Although he dealt with California as a whole, he paid particular attention to the southern part of the state, where, he felt, the agricultural possibilities had hardly been tapped and the climate was especially healthful for patients with rheumatic and pulmonary diseases" (Walker, A Literary History of Southern California, p. 107). Charles Nordhoff, sailor, adventurer, newspaper correspondent and author of many books, "wrote the most popular California booster book of all time -- CALIFORNIA: FOR HEALTH, PLEASURE, AND RESIDENCE (1872), which sold three million copies and stimulated a never ending flow of immigration to the Golden State" (Powell, California Classics, p. 18). See DAB for an account of Nordhoff's life and career. Rocq 15985. Forbes 3060. Norris Catalogue 2854. Mild spotting to cloth, cloth lightly rubbed at spine ends and corner tips, 20 mm spot of wear to cloth along rear fore-edge, but a very good, tight, internally fine copy with bright cover stamping. A very nice copy. (#168211).
Price: $275.00
No statement of printing.