Across the Plains in the Donner Party

Item Details

Palo Alto CA, Lewis Osborne, ca. 1960s

Small quarto; 56pp, including 2-page bibliography; 15 b/w illustrations plus frontispiece portrait of the author; folded facsimile map at rear. Foreword by George R. Stewart. A Near Fine copy (spine sunned) of a fairly common edition made unique by its later custom full beige leather binding ("Anson Herrick 1966" stamped on lower rear board) in custom slipcase in grey buckram; gilt lettered black title label to spine.

A very attractive work with dramatically marbled endpapers, ruled at top and bottom in blind; blind-embossed title to upper board, which bears an inlaid device in black. Tipped in to ffep, which bears previous owner name, is a slip "The runic sign of death is called for as the sole decoration as the narrative is of tragedy and death." The binding is signed 'Anson Herrick 1966." Herrick (1883-1969) was principal in the accounting firm which disbursed relief funds following the 1906 earthquake and was in charge of the accounting procedures for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. He was Director of the Pictorial Photographic Society of San Francisco and clearly an accomplished amateur hand bookbinder.