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Gift Ideas, Page 1
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THE FIRST MAJOR MONOGRAPH OF ADAMS' WORK
ADAMS, Ansel. Sierra Nevada: The John
Muir Trail. Large folio [16½ x 12 inches]. 202pp. [10]pp. plus 50 tipped-in
fine-screen halftones from photographs by Ansel Adams. White cloth lettered in
black on spine and front cover. Spine slightly darkened, front cover much less
so, rear cover with slight darkening or fading and with small spot to lower
edge. Overall, a fine and bright copy, clean throughout. Berkeley: Archetype
Press, 1938. $9,500.
First edition. A superior copy of this book. Number 320 of 500
copies signed by Ansel Adams in the colophon. Additionally, this
copy bears a presentation inscription, signed by Adams on front
blank flyleaf. The first major monograph of Adams’ work, this striking volume
includes fifty tipped-in reproductions from photographs by Ansel Adams, produced
by the Lakeside Press of Chicago utilizing the finest half-tone process of the
time. The design and letterpress was executed by Wilder & Ellen Bentley at the
Archetype Press. Sierra Club member Walter Starr commissioned Adams to produce
the book as a memorial to his son who was killed while solo climbing in the High
Sierra. This elaborate production was used as a sophisticated lobbying tool
while Congress was voting on the establishment of Kings Canyon National Park.
 THE DEFINITIVE
EDITION OF THE ALLEN PRESS BIBLIOGRAPHY
[ALLEN PRESS]. The Allen Press
Bibliography. Folio. 114pp. plus index. Illustrated with numerous sample
pages, art work, etc. from previous Allen Press editions. A very fine copy. San
Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1985. $225.
Definitive edition. Facsimile of the rare original edition
published in 1981. One of 750 copies. Includes original leaves and additions to
date, with a checklist of ephemera. The definitive edition because of the added
material. The Allen Press was a husband and wife team, printing quality books
out of their home in Kentfield, California. Their books were beautifully printed
and issued in very limited editions. [Magee, Fine Printing: p.5].
CLASSIC ACCOUNT OF 18TH CENTURY
AMERICAN TRAVEL
BARTRAM, William. Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East
and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the
Muscogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws… Pp.
xxiv, 520, [12, index]. Frontis portrait, 7 engraved plates (1 folding), folding
engraved map. Collated complete. Early 20th century three-quarter tan
polished calf, marbled boards, gilt decoration between spine panels, red leather
spine label, gilt. An exceptional copy, crisp and clean throughout. London: J.
Johnson, 1792. $6,500.
First English edition (published the year after the
extremely rare American first edition) of Bartram’s “unrivaled” account of life
on the southern frontier. The frontispiece is a portrait of the chief of the
Seminoles; the seven engraved plates show botanical and zoological subjects.
This classic account of 18th-century American travel is one of the most lively
and informative works published on the South. Bartram traveled from Georgia and
South Carolina as far north as Tennessee and west to modern-day Louisiana. His
account is notable for its literary style. “Bartram’s account of the remote
frontier, of the plantations, trading posts, and Indian villages at the end of
the 18th century is unrivaled” (Streeter II: 1088). Although primarily a
naturalist, Bartram neglects nothing. He not only gives us an accurate picture
of Indian life, but includes the peculiarities of the tribes he visited.
Especially informative are the tables of the names and localities of the
numerous towns of the populous nations of the Creeks and Cherokees. “Extensive
travels, in the early years of the Republic, through the southern frontiers and
among the Creeks and Cherokees. A work of high character well meriting its wide
esteem” (Howes). The copy offered here is in exceptional condition. Penciled on
the endpaper in a neat hand: “March 4, 1878. From the T. W. Riley collection”
Also penciled is the name, “Blanchard.” [Clark I: 197; Howes I: B-223; Howes II:
B-220; Sabin: 3870; Streeter: 1088; Vail: 849].
 THE LAST OF THE
ARCTIC VOYAGES
BELCHER, Sir Edward. The Last of the Arctic Voyages; Being a Narrative of
the Expedition in H.M.S. Assistance, Under the Command of Captain Sir Edward
Belcher, C.B., in Search of Sir John Franklin, During the Years 1852-53-54...
2 volumes. Royal octavo. Pp, xx, 383 + vii, [1], 419. Collated complete with 3
folding engraved maps, 1 lithograph map and 36 lithograph plates (11 in color);
25 wood engravings in the text. Handsomely bound in three-quarter black
goatskin, blue marbled sides and ends, red leather spine labels. Ex-library
(withdrawn in the 1920’s) of Dartmouth College with their perforation on blank
portion of title and a few other pages. With the exceptions noted, a fine and
clean set. London: Lovell Reeve, 1855. $4,000.
First edition. Halifax-born Belcher gained considerable
distinction as a surveyor in the royal navy. He served under Beechey on the
western arctic coastal survey in 1825-27, and subsequently headed surveys of the
west coast of North and South America and in the South China Sea. In 1852, he
was placed in command of an expedition of five ships (Resolute,
Intrepid, North Star, Assistance and Pioneer) to search
in the Canadian Arctic for Sir John Franklin, missing since 1845. Belcher
records his sailing through Wellington Channel and discovery of Exmouth and
North Cornwall Islands and the Belcher Channel leading to Jones Sound. Also
described is the meeting and rescue of Commdr. Robert McClure of the
Investigator on northern Banks Island by the western arm of the expedition
under Henry Kellett. Belcher's decision to abandon four ships icebound in
Wellington Channel in 1854 led to his court-martial, and despite his acquittal,
he continued to be severely criticized in England. Weather and ice conditions
are recorded throughout, as well as optical phenomena, natural history, scurvy,
etc., and a summary of results of Franklin's search expeditions to date.
Appended are several scientific reports on natural history: John Richardson’s on
fishes, J. W. Salter on fossils, Lovell Reeve on shells, Thomas Bell on
crustacea, etc. [Abbey: 645; Hill: p.21; Hill II: 106; Sabin: 4389].
 EARLY OUTLAWS AND
LAWMEN OF CALIFORNIA
BOESSENECKER, John. Badge and Buckshot. Lawlessness in Old California.
xiii [1] 333 pp. 57 photographs, 2 maps; extensive chapter notes, bibliography,
index. Red cloth. A very fine copy with pictorial dust jacket. Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, (1988). $50.
First edition (the first edition west out-of-print very quickly
upon publication and the book went into a second printing). A comprehensive look
at the early outlaws and lawmen of California. Illustrated with numerous early
photographs.
 TRANSLATIONS OF THE DIARIES OF ANZA, DIAZ, GARCES
AND PALOÚ
BOLTON, Herbert Eugene. Anza’s
California Expeditions. 5 volumes. Pp. xxi, [3], 529 + xv, [1], 473 + xxi,
[1], 436 + xiii, [1], 552 + xviii, [2], 426. 14 maps (some folding), 106 plates,
47 facsimiles. Navy blue cloth, gilt. Printed description tipped to end paper of
volume I. A superior, very fine set. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1930. $1,000.
First edition. Signed by the author in volume I.
Juan Bautista de Anza was captain of the presidio at Tubac (south of present-day
Tucson) when he developed a plan for a land route to the new settlements in Alta
California after discovering that the Indians of his region had communication
with Indians on the California coast. In the Fall of 1775 he conducted a party
of 240 colonists (men, women, and children) with cattle and supplies on a trail
of 1500 miles from Mexico over the Sonoran Desert to Monterey an on to establish
a presidio and mission at San Francisco Bay. In the set offered here, Bolton
provides translations of the diaries of Anza, Diaz, Garces, and Paloú relating
to the expedition, as well as descriptions of the founding of Monterey and San
Francisco. Cowan considered this set one “of extensive research and of most
important historical value.” Howes described it as a “monumental work...” An
important and scholarly work. [Cowan: p. 60; Howes I: B-583; Howes II: B-575;
Zamorano Eighty: 7].
 THE FIRST GENERAL HISTORY OF
ALTA CALIFORNIA
BOLTON, Herbert Eugene [Editor and
Translator]. Paloú, Fray Francisco. Historical Memoirs of New
California. 4 volumes. xcvi, 331 + xii, 390 + xii, 399 + xvi, 446pp.
Frontis, 25 plates and 3 folding maps. Navy blue cloth, gilt. The slightest of
rubbing to a few spine ends and corners. A fine set. Berkeley: University of
California Press,1926. $600.
First edition in English. The first English translation of
the first general history of Alta California, Paloú’s great “Noticias de la
Nueva California.” Although this work was first published in Mexico in 1857 (in
Spanish), this edition was translated by Bolton from the original manuscript in
the archives of Mexico.
THE FIRST MOUNTAINEERING EXPEDITION INTO CHINA
BONINGTON, Chris.
Kongur, China’s Elusive Summit.
Foreword by H.R.H. the Duke of
Edinburgh. Introduction by Michael Ward. 224pp. Profusely illustrated with
(mostly) color and black & white photographs; maps, Black cloth. A very fine
copy with unclipped pictorial dust jacket. London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd.,
1982. $75.
First edition. The main Himalayan chain of the unexplored
mountains of Tibet and Chinese Central Asia is now open to foreigners. The
British Mount Kongur expedition was the first to be allowed into China. This
excellent work discusses the expedition that conquered the summit. The author
was part of the 4 man expedition.
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