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Bryant, Edwin : What I Saw in California: Being the Journal of a Tour, by the Emigrant Route and South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, Across the Continent of North America, the Great Desert Basin , and Through California, in the Years 1846, 1847

Richard Bentley, London, England, 1849

First British Edition. No. 12 of the Zamorano 80. Contemporary brown 3/4 leather binding with brown, blue, and pink marbled paper-covered boards. Brown, blue, and pink color palette on paper-covered boards. 5" x 7." 412 pages, complete. Appendix in back. A former owner's signature ("E. M. Burke") in black ink and a former owner's brief inscription in magenta colored pencil on front pastedown. Pages are very clean and intact except for light age toning, the occasional small mark, and the former owners' markings. Covers are very clean and intact except for light to moderate rubbing and slight wear to edges and corners. A Very Good copy. This is No. 12 of the Zamorano 80. The Zamorano 80 is a list of eighty historically significant books about early California history that was compiled by members of the Zamorano Club in 1945. Edwin Bryant (1805-1869) was an American author, newspaper editor, and the 2nd alcade of San Francisco (alcades were mayors with judicial authority in Alta California). What I Saw in California is a first-person account by Bryant of his westward journey in 1846 on the Overland Route to California from Independence, Missouri. Coinciding with the California Gold Rush, the book's initial publication in 1849 catapulted it to being a commercial success. Many pioneers and miners traveling westward to California used Bryant's book as a guide. Within Bryant's account are his descriptions of local scenery, moments of hardship and levity in pioneer life, noted California figures such as Stephen W. Kearny and John C. Fremont, and his term as San Francisco's 2nd alcade. What I Saw in California also contains one of the earliest accounts of the ill-fated Donner Party by Bryant and other contemporaries. On his journey west, Bryant had initially joined a wagon train led by General William Henry Russell, among whom was the Donner Party. Later, he and a smaller group left the wagon train and chose to take the shorter but more arduous route through Hastings Cutoff and the Great Salt Lake Desert which is described in great detail in his book. Bryant and his party successfully made it through this part of the journey, as they had traveled with pack mules, but Bryant worried that the terrain was too difficult for wagon trains. Notably, Bryant had sent letters to James Reed and other members of the Donner Party to warn them against taking Hastings Cutoff, but sadly, his letters never reached them and their infamous fate was sealed.. Book. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Hardcover

1st British Edition

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