296 pp. Original gilt-lettered green cloth. First Edition.
Bookplate of Everett E. Farwell and two posthumous bookplates of historian John S. Sandoval. Laid in is a typewritten index, listing names and the pages on which each is mentioned. One of the classic works on San Francisco during the Gold Rush, containing "informative and engaging gossip respecting old-time personalities and events" by two leading saloon-keepers of the 1850's. Another previous owner's name penciled on title page.
Kurutz calls the book "a historical geography and biographical dictionary of early San Francisco, full of episodes, and valuable for the reconstruction of the city and location of buildings in '49, '50, and '51. The authors profiled many of the pioneer businesses in the city, ranging from restaurants to the Chinese laundry." This copy without the double-frontispiece, but this book is often found without the frontispiece and many copies appear to have been so issued; Kurutz makes no mention of its existence. Cowan p.36; Graff 197; Howes B192; Kurutz 38a; Wheat Gold Rush 12.