PBA Galleries

2 volumes. vi, [2], 347, [1]; [2], 413, [1] pp. Illustrated with 23 plates, incl. 3 duotone lithographs, the rest being wood engravings. 7¾x4¾, later half dark green gilt-ruled morocco & marbled boards, spines tooled in gilt, raised bands, top edges gilt. First Edition.

Ryan, an Englishman, enlisted in 1847 in Stevenson's First Regiment of California Volunteers and reached Monterey on the Isabella in 1848. When the regiment was disbanded in August, 1848, he went to the Stanislaus River for an unsuccessful try at mining, returning to Monterey in the winter of 1849. Cowan calls the book "The charming narrative of an artist and bohemian who left unrecorded but little that he saw. His descriptions are among best of his time." Howes lauds the pictures as well as the text. Cowan p.547; Graff 3626; Howes R558; Kurutz 548; Sabin 74532; Streeter 2646; Wheat Gold Rush 173.