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Author: Hutchings, James Mason
Title: Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California. Illustrated by 105 well executed engravings, including the Mammoth Trees of Calaveras; the Caves and Natural Bridges of Calaveras; the Yo-Semite Valley; the Mammoth Trees of Mariposa and Frezno; Mount Shasta; the Quicksilver Mines of New Almaden and Henriquita; the Farallon Islands; The Geyser Springs; the Riffle-Box Waterfall; Deer Creek; Lake Bigler; Scenes on the Sacramento; the El Dorado County Cave, etc.
Place Published: San Francisco
Publisher:J.M. Hutchings
Date Published: 1861
Description:

267 pp. Illustrated with numerous wood engravings. Original blindstamped purple cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Second Edition, First Printing.

The first book-length description of California's natural attractions, and the first work to describe the big trees and the Yosemite region. This is the second edition, expanded from the two printings of the first edition with the addition of three new chapters; the remainder of the book is the same as the undated 1860 first edition and the 1861 reprinting of it. Cowan p.300; Currey & Kruska 164; Farquhar 4c; Greenwood 1475.

"Hutchings was editor and publisher of Hutchings' California Magazine, founded in 1856. This book is the first work to promote the natural beauty and scenery of California" - Greenwood. Farquhar notes that for the first edition the illustrations "are entirely from the cuts used in the first four volumes of the magazine."

Rubbing, light soiling to cloth; interior with toning, occasional light spotting; very good.