PBA Galleries

Rare account of a camping trip in the High Sierra undertaken by University of California professor of geology and history Joseph LeConte in July and August, 1870, accompanied by Professor Frank Soule, Jr., and eight members of the student body. This was LeConte's first trip to the Yosemite region, to be followed by ten more over the next thirty years. The work is notable for the excellent photographs, some featuring members of the party in the marvelous setting of Yosemite, others the scenic wonders uncluttered by human presence. Farquhar speculates that the pictures were taken by "one or more of the professional photographers who operated in Yosemite Valley." There were ten members of the party, and according to Joseph N. LeConte, the author's son, 12 copies of the book were produced for each member, making a run of 120 copies in all. Curry & Kruska 230; Farquhar 14a; Howes L175. Accompanied by a typed letter from Dawson's Bookshop, Los Angeles, from 1923, offering the book for $25, "which is $10.00 less than was asked by a San Francisco dealer, the only other copy I have ever heard of being offered for sale." The bottom portion of the letter is torn off, so it is unsigned.