1853 First Edition THE CALIFORNIA PILGRIM *Illustrated

Attention Collectors!

Rare!

1853

First Edition

The California Pilgrim

Here is a rare antiquarian hardcover book that would be a fantastic addition to a collection!   

You are bidding on a very scarce antique hardcover book titled The California Pilgrim - A Series of Lectures. By J. A. Benton, Pastor of the First Church of Christ in Sacramento. Published in Sacramento, California by Solomon Alter and in San Francisco by Marvin & Hitchcock, 1853. This is the rare and collectible First Edition.

This is the first Protestant book to be published in California.

Written in the form of an allegory (like the "Pilgrim's Progress"), this work gives many details of Californian life. The author, a clergyman, was the founder of the Congregational church in California, having arrived in 1849. According to the prefatory note, Reverend Benton conceived the idea of the allegorical lectures on California life while on a visit to the country. He wrote: 'The burning of Sacramento occurred during the delivery of the lectures.'

Topics included arrival in San Francisco, visit to Stockton, Sacramento, Election day, Sacramento burned, mining towns, Yankee Jim's, the origin of gold. Each chapter concludes with a moral. The wood engravings are the first set of illustrations by Charles Christian Nahl for a full-length book.

The illustrated plates by Charles Christian Nahl (1818-1878) are among the earliest California work of the German artist who also came to the gold country in 1849. After failing as a miner (he bought a salted mine at Rough and Ready Camp on the Yuba River), he opened an art studio in Sacramento. He moved on to San Francisco in 1852 after the Sacramento fire of that year destroyed his studio and all his early work. Nahl was an accomplished painter who is regarded as perhaps the most significan California artist of the Gold Rush era.

The  book is quarter-bound in leather with leather tips. The spine has raised bands with gold lettering. There is a piece of leather missing from the second spine compartment (refer to pictur). The front cover is relatively well attached however is shows a split along the vertical gutter. Rear cover firmly attached with no split. All pages tightly bound. Top edge of pages has gilt edge. There are decorative marbellized endpages. Many of the pages show a light water stain along top area of pages although it doesn't really affect the legibility. No writing in book and no signs of previous ownership.

This is a highly collectible First Edition.

The same book is selling for over $300 elsewhere.

Would make a super addition to a collection.

Great gift idea!