[Clappe, Louise A.]:

$400 · Offered by William Reese Company

THE SHIRLEY LETTERS FROM CALIFORNIA MINES IN 1851-52 BEING A SERIES OF TWENTY-THREE LETTERS FROM DAME SHIRLEY...TO HER SISTER IN MASSACHUSETTS.... From a limited signed edition of 450 copies, and with the plates handcolored. Louise Clappe's letters first appeared serially in THE PIONEER magazine of San Francisco in 1854–55 under the pseudonym of "Dame Shirley." This is the first edition in book form. "These letters present a vivid and unexcelled picture of every-day life in the mines" - Howes. "These superlatively readable and informative letters from a gifted young New England woman to her sister in 'the States' may well be accorded first place in any gathering of notable Gold Rush literature" - Wheat. After publisher Thomas Russell's death, the remaining unbound signatures of this book were purchased by San Francisco bookseller John Newbegin, who had them bound in 1946 in a style similar to that of the original edition. He had employees of his shop forge Russell's signature, but the copy at hand is one of the original and genuine signed limited issues.

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