[Layton, Grovenor]:

$115 · Offered by William Reese Company

ARTFUL DEEDS IN THE LIFE OF THE FELON, GROVENOR LAYTON...A TALE OF THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH. One of 350 copies designed and printed by Peter Koch, this edition is a reprint from the 1853 issue of Grovenor Layton's TWO ERAS..., also known as ARTFUL DEEDS. Richard Dillon, author of the introduction, examines the literary appeal of Layton's fabricated history and ascribes the allure of this fictitious memoir to its accurate reflection of the times. "The story of Grovenor Layton is a splendid example of an interesting subcategory of American literature. We might best describe the genre as 'California Gold Rush gallows confession'...ARTFUL DEEDS is a humbug, a hoax, a bogus biography. The supposed victim of Judge Lynch did not actually exist. Yet his is a convincing story because Orton, or whoever, did his homework soaking up existing gold rush material to feed his imagination" (from the introduction). A handsome copy.

• Printing: later

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