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CALIFORNIA
“The Great Discovery” — GOLD 
(A
Book that HAD to Come First in This List). Dunbar, Edward E.
The romance of the age; Or, the discovery of gold in California. New York: D.
Appleton & Co., 1867. 16mo (18.6 cm, 7.3"). Frontis., 134, [10 (adv.)] pp.;
2 plts.
Click the images for enlargements. • Sabin 21232; Gaer, California Literature of the Gold-Rush, 25; Cowan & Cowan, Bibliography of the History of California, 187. Publisher's textured maroon cloth, front cover with very decorative gilt-stamped title presentation; lightly rubbed, spine sunned and with some other sort of discoloration at top. Ex–social club library: front free endpaper and fly-leaf with inked numerals in a 19th-century hand; title-page, one plate, and one other page rubber-stamped. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean. A nice little book. (26296)
Inscribed
by
the Author
Angney, Lydia F. California and other poems. Gilroy, CA: Pr. for the author by A.C. Eaton, 1900. 8vo. 96 pp.
“Californianum”
— this copy with a laid-in slip of paper reading, “Christmas Greeting
to Frank & Annie, from Aunt Lydia.” Lydia Francis Witham
Angney authored two volumes of poetry, both published in Gilroy, the home of
the annual Garlic Festival, and endured a long widowhood following the death
of er husband W. Z. Angney. W.Z. served in the Mexican War and played a major
role in the U.S. occupation of New Mexico and in the territorial government,
then moved on to California, settling in Gilroy to raise tree fruit in his orchards,
but being sent to the state senate and called on by the governor for other civic
duties. He died in January 1878.
Click
the interior image for an enlargement.
• Publisher's green cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title; light shelf wear to corners and spine extremities. (22223)
Water as
CURE-ALLBourne, George Melksham. The home doctor: a guide to health. By Dr. Bourne, of San Francisco. San Francisco: San Francisco News Company, 1878. Small 8vo. Frontis. port., xx, 505, [1] pp.; illus. 
Click the interior image for an enlargement. • Publisher's brown buckram, stamped in gilt on the spine, in blind on covers. Paper edges marbled. Clean, free of chips or tears. A very fine copy. (24465)
AMERICANS . . . “Never Retreat either in Battle(California Statehood). Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, with the views of the minority of that committee on Bill S.350, for the admission of California into the Union as a state. Washington: Pr. by Wendell & Van Benthuysen, 1849. 8vo (22 cm; 8.5"). 18 pp. 
Single-click the image, for an enlargement. • Removed from a nonce volume and now in wrappers. A very good copy.
The California Poets California Writers Club. Poems. 1933. Berkeley: Pr. by The Professional Press, 1933. 8vo. 67, [1] pp.
Provenance: Bookplate inside front wrapper of Lorraine & Horace Haynes.
• Publisher's light-blue wrappers. Bookplate as above. Near fine. (23669)
San Francisco Cookery in a
High-Flying Era Craig, John C., ed. The recipe book of
Lillie Hitchcock Coit. Introduction by Carol Hart Field. Berkeley, CA: The Friends of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1998. 8vo. [2 (blank)], frontis., 5–65, [5 (3 blank)] pp. 
The recipes collected by Mrs. Coit reflect the “cosmopolitan character of San Francisco” during the 1870's and 1880's and show “the influence of the French, Spanish, Mexican, and English traditions in the cookery of the period.”
Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait and one additional illustration.
• Paperback. Fine. (5461)
“WOMEN'S THEATER” — San Francisco 1923 Dramatic-Musical Society of San Francisco. [drop-title] The Dramatic-Musical Society of San Francisco. Seventh performance of the 1922–1923 season. Friday, April 20, 1923 at 2:30 o'clock. San Francisco: Dramatic Musical Society, 1923. 8vo. [1] f. (verso blank).
• Fine. (19234)
Important Account of
the Southwest & the Mexican Border Emory, William Hemsley. Notes of a military reconnoissance, from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri, to San Diego, in California, including parts of the Arkansas, Del Norte, and Gila rivers. Washington: Wendell & Van Benthuysen, 1848. 8vo (23.2 cm, 9.1"). 416 pp.; 43 plts. (lacking 1 fold. map).
Click the images for enlargements. The volume is illustrated with43 lithographed plates done by Weber & Co., including a portrait of “A New Mexican Indian Woman,” a fish of the Gila River, a map of “the actions fought at San Pasqual in upper California between the Americans and Mexicans Dec. 6th & 7th 1846,” and a view of cliffside hieroglyphics, as well as a series of 14 botanical images.
• Cowan & Cowan 195; Graff 1249 (other 1848 issues only); Haferkorn 38; Howes E145; Sabin 22536 (for House ed. only); Wagner-Camp, Plains & Rockies, 148:2; Zamorano 80, 33. Recent black cloth, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Oversized, folding map lacking. Plates and pages with some light to moderate foxing; one leaf with tear from upper margin, extending into text without loss. Clean, strong. (27364)
The Best Books to Read 
A Specially Embellished Copy of THIS Book! Fitch, George Hamlin. Comfort found in good old books. San Francisco: Paul Elder & Co., 1911. 12mo. Frontis., xxi, [1], 171, [3] pp.; 31 plts.
Click the images for enlargements. illustrated with a total of 32 tipped-in, mounted plates: portraits, facsimiles of title-pages, etc.
Provenance: This copy bears the large and utterly charming
hand-drawn ex libris of John C. Ryan, depicting a medieval wanderer and a coat of arms with a squirrel rampant; Ryan's signature (dated 1911, San Francisco) is on the title-page.
• Publisher's terra-cotta cloth, front cover and spine stamped in black and gilt; extremities lightly rubbed, spine and front cover slightly darkened. Ex–social club library: small paper label on front cover, attractive bookplate on pastedown, pressure-stamp on title-page, no other markings. Title-page with inked inscription as above. A few scattered spots of light foxing, otherwise clean. (27382)
Fremont's Third Expedition Frémont, John Charles. Geographical memoir upon upperCalifornia, in illustration of his map of Oregon and California. Washington: Printed by Tippin & Streeper, 1849. 8vo (23.5 cm; 9.25"). 40 pp.
Click the image to the right for an enlargement. Here Frémont presents to the U.S. Senate his formal report on his third expedition to the West. The map referred to in the title wasissued separately under title “Map of Oregon and Upper California. . . 1848" and is not present; hence the affordable price here.
The original edition, not a reprint. A government publication: [U.S.] 30th Cong., 2d sess. House. Misc. [doc.] 5.
• Sabin 25837; Howes F366; Wagner-Camp-Becker, Plains and Rockies, 150:2. Recent marbled paper–covered boards with leather label on front cover. Occasional light foxing. (24883)
Front & Back Views of a
Black Cat Grace the Cover Herford, Oliver; Ethel Watts Mumford; & Addison Mizner. The cynic's calendar of revised wisdom for 1904. San Francisco: The Tomoyé Press for Paul Elder and Co., ©1903. 16mo. [128] pp.
Click the images for enlargements. law-related puns. Wry little calendar-book
meant as a New Year's gift, featuring declamations such as “Honor is without
profit — in most countries,” “Where there's a will there's
a law suit,” and “A little widow is a dangerous thing.” Wickedly
amusing illustrations evoking the era appear throughout, in black and red, provided
by “Towanda” and Mizner.
• Original cloth over cardboard, front cover with printed and
illustrated paper label; lightly faded, some discoloration and soiling. Sewing
loosening but holding. Text clean. A delight. (26798)
The Boss & FamilyCelebrate Christmas at the Ranch Hotchkis, Katharine Bixby. Christmas eve at Rancho Los Alamitos. [San Francisco]: California Historical Society, 1971. 8vo. vii, [1], 23, [1] pp.; illus.
• Second, revised edition: First-person account of growing up on the headquarters of a working ranch in southern California during the early 20th century, illustrated with color-printed line drawings. This is special publication no. 47 of the California Historical Society.
• Publisher's printed paper wrappers. A clean, fresh copy. (26075)
Dominican Missions inCalifornia Quiñones, Baltasar de. Autograph Letter Signed in Spanish to Fray Ignacio Gentil. Rome: 7 April 1789. Tall 8vo (26.5 cm; 10.5"). [2] pp., with integral address leaf.
Click the images for enlargements. The main question at hand is the appointing of a new attorney/solicitor (i.e., procurador) for the California missions. He says, “quiero que ahora y siempre que ocurra [la necesidad de un nuevo procurador], se haga el nombramiento por la Provincia misma despues de haber oido al Presidente de las Misiones, el cual es mi voluntad que en cuanto sea posible camine con acuerdo de la mayor parte a lo menos de los demas misioneros, antes de hacer su propuesta a la Prov[inci]a.”
He also makes appointments to the positions of “Depositarios del Deposito” and the names of the four appointees are given.
• Written in a clear large hand and with the paper and wax closure in evidence. (25329)
Around
the World “Overland”?
— including
HAWAII?
Simpson, George, Sir. An overland journey round the
world, during the years 1841 and 1842. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1847. 8vo (21.3 cm,
8.4"). 273, [3], [17]–230, [2 (blank)] pp.
Click
the images for enlargements.
You'll
get VERY good flavor from them!
CALIFORNIA,
Hawaii, Alaska, and Russia before returning to London. His careful observations
include much commentary on the degree of “civilization” among various
peoples and the results thereof — often not positive, especially with
regards to the impact of missionaries on local culture and morality. Simpson
also provides economic and trade analyses, linguistic comparisons, culinary
critiques (in particular, his distaste for the garlicky food served in California),
and descriptions of local flora and fauna.
Allay that Pheasant, Splat that Pyke, Border that Pasty! Wayland, Harold & Virginia, eds. Of carving, cards &
cookery or the mode of carving at the table as represented in a pack of playing cards originally
designed & sold by Joseph & James Moxon, London 1676–7. Arcadia, CA: Pr. for V. & H.
Wayland by Carol Allen Cockel at the Raccoon Press, 1962. 4to (21 cm, 8.25"). [6], 122, [2]
pp.; illus.
Click the images for enlargements. 53 (one-sided) facsimiles of the Moxons' original
instructional playing cards plus their wrapper.
• Publisher's vellum over boards, spine with raised bands and faux hand-inked title, in original red cloth slipcase. A beautiful, clean, unworn copy in a perfect slipcase. (26750)
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