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Author: Kelly, William
Title: An Excursion to California over the Prairie, Rocky Mountains, and Great Sierra Nevada. With a Stroll Through the Diggings and Ranches of that Country
Place Published: London
Publisher:Chapman & Hall
Date Published: 1851
Description: 2 volumes. x, 342; viii, 334, (2) ad pp. (8vo) 19.2x11.8 cm (7½x4¾"), period quarter morocco over marbled boards, ruled in gilt, raised bands, spines tooled in gilt; top edges gilt. First Edition.Early account by a Englishman who sailed from England in January of 1849, making the journey westward through Buffalo, Chicago and St. Louis, to the jumping off point in Missouri. "William Kelly left Westport on April 6, 1849, and arrived in the diggings at Pleasant Valley on July 26, having spent 102 days traveling.... His description of the journey and of life in California is lively and interesting..." - Wagner-Camp. Kurutz notes that the second volume, A Stroll through the Diggings..., "contains one of the most detailed and enlightening accounts of life in the mines. His wanderings took him to the major districts of the Northern Mines, including the Trinity Mountains and quicksilver mines near San Jose. Kelly also observed the Indians; remnants of the Spanish and Mexican pueblos, ranchos, and missions; and the bustling and frenetic life of San Francisco...." Cowan p.325; Graff 2298; Howes K68; Kurutz 370a; Mattes 515; Mintz 269; Rocq 15895; Sabin 37321; Streeter 2670; Wagner-Camp 200:1; Wheat Gold Rush 115. Bookplates present.

Sunning and light rubbing to morocco, joints cracked, chips lost to ends of spine; occasional faint foxing; very good.