Mountains and Molehills, or Recollections of a Burnt Journal

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1855 First American edition, published the same year as the British edition. x, [11]-393pp. Frontispiece plus 25 wood engravings. Publishers blind stamped Royal blue cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Minimal scattered foxing, a bit more so to first ten leaves, early owner's name and date on endpaper. Slight darkening to spine, but a fine, tight copy. Marryat came to California in June, 1850 and stayed almost 3 years. His book gives one of the best descriptions of life in San Francisco and in the mines in the 1850's. The plates graphically show the hardships everyone faced, but they also reveal the Englishman's wry sense of humor. His "High and Dry" and "Winter of 1849" rank among the most memorable views of that time period. "Excellent narrative of experiences in the diggings" (Wheat). "Marryat began his narrative in April 1850, as he approached Chagres. On June 14, 1850, he arrived in San Francisco. In the summer and fall of 1851, the author engaged in quartz mining in the Tuttletown, Tuolumne County, region. He penned vivid descriptions of saloons, fires, claim jumpers, bears, fleas, mining techniques, mining camps, Chinese, transportation, theaters, and señoritas" (Kurutz). [Cowan: p.416n; Graff: 2685; Howes I: M-299; Howes II: M-299; Kurutz: 429b; Sabin: 44695; Wheat: 137; Zamorano Eighty: 52, note]..