California and Oregon Trail: Being Sketches of Prairie and Rocky
Item #70808
PARKMAN, Francis. The California and Oregon Trail: Being Sketches of Prairie and Rocky Mountain Life. New York. 1849. 448pp. plus 10pp. of ads (two at the front and eight at the end). Frontispiece and engraved titlepage. Original blue cloth, stamped in blind. Spine faded. Later bookplate of noted American literature collector Jacob Chester Chamberlain. Minor scattered foxing. Very good. In a green half morocco slipcase. A rare variant state of the first printing of this landmark work, with blue cloth and 8 pages of advertisements at the end. One of the classics of western travel literature, Parkman's work may be the most familiar piece of that genre to modern readers. The exciting adventures of the young Boston Brahmin loose on the plains make excellent reading. Field remarks: "Mr. Parkman had all the genuine love of adventure of a frontiersman, the taste for the picturesque and romantic of an artist, and the skill in narration of an accomplished raconteur. It is not too high praise to say that his pictures of savage life are not excelled...." WAGNER-CAMP 170:1a. HOWES P97, "aa." BAL 15446. COWAN, p.474. RADER 2608. MINTZ 359. RITTENHOUSE 450. HOLLIDAY SALE 853. LARNED 2062. FIELD 1177. FLAKE 3277. GROLIER AMERICAN 100, 58. STREETER SALE 1815.
Price: $6,000.00