Robinson, Fayette:

$7,500 · Offered by William Reese Company

CALIFORNIA AND ITS GOLD REGIONS; WITH A GEOGRAPHICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW OF THE COUNTRY, ITS MINERAL AND AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES...WITH A MAP OF THE U. STATES AND ... According to Wheat, "One of the best of the early books on California printed for gold seekers." Robinson, who had produced a book on the Mexican-American War shortly before, drew on both official and unofficial sources for this book. Kurutz calls this work "a fine anthology of several of the earliest reports of the gold discovery, conditions in California, history of the region, and ways to reach the diggings....The excellent map is important for delineating the various sea and overland routes to California." The gold region is tinted yellow on the map, as well as on the inset "Map of the Gold Region," and the overland routes are drawn in blue. Among the sources drawn on are reports by Mason, Fremont, Larkin, Emory, and Kearny, as well as newspaper accounts. Robinson discusses several routes to California, recommending the northern Overland Trail as the best. Howes and Kurutz note two issues of 137 and 144 pages, respectively, of which this is the former.

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