PBA Galleries

xlv, [1], 34, 365, 363*-369*, [366]-391 pp. 3 Lithograph plates, including frontispiece; 2 maps (1 double-page with hand-coloring). Errata leaves inserted after pages iv and 34. Addenda slips tipped-in at Pages xlv and 365. (8vo) 8¾x5¾", original brown half morocco, marbled boards. Embossed stamp of Bartling and Kimball, Bookbinders, San Francisco on front flyleaf. Third Edition, Second Issue.

Following the Land Act of 1851, the city of San Francisco, the successor to the pueblo of Yerba Buena, filed a claim for four leagues of pueblo or town lands. The United States contended that the pueblo of San Francisco never existed, which would have invalidated the city's claim for thousands of acres. Dwinelle, the city's special counsel, successfully argued against the federal government in both the district and circuit courts, and in so doing amassed a mountain of documentary evidence on the history of San Francisco during the Spanish and Mexican periods. Cowan notes that most of the documents supporting Dwinelle's argument "are now either inaccessible or destroyed." Additional material was added to later editions as the case moved from trial to appeal. This second issue of the third edition is considered the most desirable from the perspective of historical completeness. Cowan (I), p. 75; (II), p. 189; Howell 50:783; Howes D614; Norris 1024; Rocq 7961; Zamorano 80:32.