PENCIL SKETCHES OF COLORADO, ITS CITIES, PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND MOUNTAIN SCENERY

[New York: J. Bien], 1866.. Titlepage, preface leaf, and [12]pp. letterpress descriptions, plus thirty-six scenes on twenty-three tinted and lightly colored lithographed plates. Oblong folio. Publisher's russet cloth, front board stamped in gilt. Bookplate on front pastedown, new endpapers. A bit of light spotting or soiling, mostly confined to the margins, with the images very clean. A very good copy. In a red half morocco and cloth clamshell box, spine gilt. An exceptional book, and one of the half- dozen major illustrated works on the American West produced in the 19th century, ranking with Bodmer, Catlin, Moran, and Warre as an illustrated depiction of the opening of the West. It is the only one of these to show scenes of mining, so vital to the development of the West, and of the evolution of towns and cities, notably Denver.

Alfred Mathews was a pioneering creator of city and country views in the American West. This is his first and most lavish view book, using multiple tint stones on each plate. His other notable books, PENCIL SKETCHES OF MONTANA (1868), GEMS OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCENERY (1869), and CANON CITY, COLORADO (1870), employ only one tint stone on the plates. "These views are celebrated for their documentary accuracy - apparently contemporary viewers could identify in the street views the rigs of various townspeople" - Streeter.

Mathews writes in the preface:

"'The author herewith offers to the public a collection of lithographed sketches of Colorado, embracing its Cities, and most of its Principal Towns together with some of the beautiful Mountain Scenery which abounds in this incomparable territory....[My aim is] to represent that portion of the country to which interest is attached on account of the rich gold and silver mines; and, if possible, to give non-residents an idea of the beauty and grandeur of the natural scenery in the mountains, which will compare favorably, in this respect, with any in the world."

A wonderful set of Colorado views, justly famous for their precision and beauty, and very rare; only a few copies have been on the market in the last several decades. The plates are as follows:

1) "Snowy Range of the Rocky Mountains; from Bald Mountain, near Nevada."

2) "Denver, City of the Plains."

3) "F Street, Denver."

4) "Blake Street, Denver, Colorado."

5) "Laramie Street, Denver."

6) "Golden City."

7) "Black Hawk, looking up Gregory and Chase's Gulches."

8) "Central City; looking up Spring Gulch."

9) "Central City; from the side of Mammoth Hill looking up Gregory and Eureka Gulches."

10) "Nevada, Colorado."

11) [Mountain ranges, two images on one sheet:] a. "Russell Gulch, Gilpin County"; b. "The Chief, Squaw and Papoose, as seen from Idaho."

12) [Clear Creek County views, two images on one sheet:] a. "Idaho"; b. "Fall River."

13) [Fall River views, two images on one sheet:] a. "The Old Mountaineer"; b. "Profile Rock."

14) [Clear Creek County views, two images on one sheet:] a. "Empire City, from near the foot of Silver Mountain, looking towards Elizabethtown"; b. "Elizabethtown, from the Griffith Tunnel."

15) "South Park."

16) "Mount Lincoln. The town of Montgomery is seen at its base."

17) "Twin Lakes."

18) "Pike's Peak and Colorado City."

19) "Garden of the Gods."

20) "Monuments, near Monument Creek."

21) [Mining and Stamp Process, four images on one sheet:] a. "Gulch Mining. - Colorado Gulch"; b. "Spanish Arastra - on Clear Creek"; c. "The Stamp Process. - Mr. Sensenderfer's Mill"; d. "Shaft or Lode Mining. - Interior of No. 1, on the Gregory, the Black Hawk Co.'s Mine."

22) [The Keith Process. Hope Gold Company's Works, four images on one sheet:] a. "The Ore Breaking Room. - Blake's Ore Breaker"; b. "The Furnace"; c. "The Ore Pit, or Drying Room"; d. "Amalgamating Room."

23) [The Smelting Process. James E. Lyon & Co.'s Smelting Works; four images on one sheet:] a. "Ore Dressing Room - The Buddle and Jiggs"; b. "Reverberatory Furnace"; c. "Cupel Furnace"; d. "Scotch Hearths." BENNETT, p.72. DEÁK, PICTURING AMERICA 808 (ref). REPS, VIEWS AND VIEWMAKERS 482. HOWES M413, "c." GRAFF 2709. STREETER SALE 2171. REESE, BEST OF THE WEST 169.