September 16, 2020 09:00 AM PDT Annex
15
William Redmond Ryan. Personal Adventures in Upper and Lower California, in 1848–1849
With the Author’s Experience at the Mines. Illustrated by Twenty-three Drawings, Taken on the Spot. In Two Volumes.
London: William Shoberl, Publisher. 20, Great Marlborough Street. 1850
COLLATION: Vol. I: consisting of: [1] 2-4, publisher’s advts., front., [i] title, [ii] printer’s imprint, [iii] iv-vi preface, [vii] viii–x contents, [ix] illustrations, [for] Vols. I & II, [1] 2–347 text, [348] printer’s imprint.
Vol. II: consisting of: front., [i] title, [ii] printer’s imprint, [iii] iv-vi contents, [1] 2–413 text, [414] printers imprint. 7¾ x 4¾ in.
BINDING: Blind-stamped ornamental red cloth. Front covers, gold-stamped illustration of two vaqueros. Spine, gold-stamped: Vol. I [II] [space] Shoberl | London. Edges trimmed, decorative endpapers. Slightly shelf worn; spines rebacked; ink stain on rear cover of Vol. II.
PLATES: Vol. I: (all with tissue guards) front. (lithograph) and 9 wood engravings.
Vol II: (all with tissue guards) front. (lithograph) and 11 wood engravings and 1 lithograph.
REFERENCES: Cowan I, p. 197; Cowan II, p. 547; Decker 32: 61; Eberstadt 125: 191; Graff 3626; Holliday 966; Howell 215; Howes R-558; Kurutz 548a; Norris 3340; Rocq 16037; Sloan, Gold Rush 122; Streeter 2646, Wheat, Books 173
An Englishman, Ryan enlisted in Colonel J. D. Stevenson’s First Regiment of New Volunteers in 1847 and landed in Monterey in February 1848 to begin the American takeover of California. Much of Volume I is devoted to his observations of Alta California before the Gold Rush and left his readers with a lively and fresh account. With the discovery of gold, he went off to the Stanislaus diggings for a brief and unsuccessful try at mining, and then returned to Monterey. He quickly realized that trading pistols and rifles yielded a much greater reward than digging for gold. The plates based on his drawings attest to his considerable skill and he created some of the best contemporary views of mining, cities, pueblos and daily life in California. Processing and shipping within the continental U.S. $40.00 plus 1.5% replacement cost insurance.
Condition:
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Estimate:
$1,000 -
$2,500
Price Realized Including Buyer's Premium
$1,210
09/16/2020
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