81 pp. Large colored lithograph folding map. (8vo) 23x14.5 cm. (9x5¾"), original brown cloth, covers bordered in blind, front cover lettered in gilt. First Edition.
Elaborate prospectus for the mining property known as the Mariposa Estate. The Mariposas scheme was the brainchild of John C. Frémont, who saw it as the making of his fortune, but who was ultimately bankrupted by it. In January 1863, Frémont, then a Major-General in the Union Army, sold Rancho Las Mariposas with its mines and infrastructure to Morris Ketchum, a New York City banker, who formed a public corporation, the Mariposa Company, and sold stock. In 1863, Frederick Law Olmsted, noted New York landscape architect, came to Mariposa as superintendent for the Mariposa Company. Olmsted was not a mining expert. Investments were made in stamp mills, tunnels, shafts, and the other infrastructure related to the mining towns. By 1865, the Mariposa Company was bankrupt, Olmsted returned to New York, and mines were sold at a sheriff's sale. The notable map is: "Las Mariposas Estate, Mariposas County, California. Containing 44,386 83/100 Acres or 70 Square Miles. Lith of Sarony, Major & Knapp, 449 Broadway, N.Y. Max Strobel Engineer" (63x50 cm (15x19½").
Provenance: Argonaut, 10/96
References: Cowan, p 414; Peters, California on Stone, p 187. Rocq, 5117.
Condition:
Spine a little faded, wear along joints; some light offsetting to the map, short splits at fold intersections and short stub tear; very good.