MAP OF THE MINING REGION, OF CALIFORNIA. 1855.
Baker, George H.:
Sacramento: Barber & Baker, 1855. Map, 10 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches, printed on blue paper on a folio sheet, folded in half to make a four-page letter sheet. Fourth page containing a manuscript letter, dated May 18, 1856. Old folds. Small closed tear in upper left corner of map and another in left center edge, with no loss. Very good. In a cloth clamshell box. A rare and important California Gold Rush map, printed as a letter sheet - this copy containing a contemporary manuscript letter from a miner to his family. Few California letter sheets contain maps, and this one is notable for the great detail it shows in the cartography of the region. The map depicts the area from the Oregon border south to Monterey and Tulare counties and eastward into Nevada, (denoted as "Utah" on the map). Many gold diggings are identified by name, and the map locates a number of rivers and other transportation routes. The map also contains a table of distances from Sacramento to several cities (including mining centers), and a population table for several towns. George Baker was a student at the National Academy of Design, but left Boston for California when he heard news of the gold discovery, and arrived in San Francisco in May 1849. He engaged in mercantile pursuits, eventually settling in Sacramento where he joined with engraver E.L. Barber in a publishing firm which lasted until 1856. "One of the most interesting and worthwhile products of [Baker's] pen and his lithographic stone is a little map on blue letter paper...It is a considerable achievement, for despite its small size it contains a very large number of names of mining camps and diggings throughout the California mining region considering its early date....This is one of the finest and most carefully prepared maps of the California Gold Regions to appear in the mid-fifties...." - Wheat. The map is also laudable for its accuracy in its cartography of Nevada. Lake Tahoe (called "Bigler Lake"), however, is shown as being wholly in "Utah." This map, drawn by Baker, was lithographed by Fishbourne of San Francisco and copyrighted in 1854. Baird notes that a letter sheet issue of this map was also published in 1854, though it is not identified by Wheat. The 1854 and 1855 versions are equally rare, with Baird locating only two institutional copies of each. A manuscript letter, dated May 18, 1856, is contained on the fourth page of the letter sheet. The letter is written from John Umbaugh to Susan Umbaugh (presumably his wife), informing her that he is well and currently working in the diggings at "Indian Canyon," located three miles from "Iowa Hill." He further writes that though "we haf vary dull times hear" he has little time to write. He instructs Susan to direct her forthcoming letters to "Iowa City, California." A very nice copy of a very rare Gold Rush map, made even more interesting by the accompanying contemporary letter from a miner. WHEAT GOLD REGION 273. WHEAT TRANSMISSISSIPPI 821. BAIRD, CALIFORNIA'S PICTORIAL LETTER SHEETS 145a. CLIFFORD LETTER SHEET COLLECTION 151. PETERS, CALIFORNIA ON STONE, p.121.
(Item ID: WRCAM38649) $8,500.00