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History of Sonoma County, California. San Francisco: Alley, Bowen & Co., Publishers, 1880. First edition. Large quarto, 717 pp. Illustrated throughout with numerous full-page lithographic portraits of prominent early Sonoma County residents, many retaining their original tissue guards.
An important and extensive nineteenth-century history of Sonoma County, published only thirty years after California statehood. The volume records the county’s geology, topography, mountains, valleys and waterways; Spanish land grants; early Spanish and American pioneers; the Bear Flag episode; political history; individual townships and settlements; churches, schools and societies; and the development of viticulture, agriculture, mining, lumbering and other early industries. Particular attention is given to the region’s pioneer families and prominent citizens through biographical sketches and lithographic portraits.
Published in San Francisco by Alley, Bowen & Co., with printing, stereotyping and binding credited to Pacific Press of Oakland. Copyright dated 1879 and title page dated 1880. A substantial primary reference for the early history and settlement of Sonoma County and Northern California.
Original binding with decorative marbled endpapers and pictorially decorated page edges. Binding in poor condition and in need of restoration: boards detached, spine covering largely absent, text block split into sections with exposed sewing, and a number of leaves and plates loose or partially detached. Considerable staining and dampstaining, particularly toward the front of the volume, with scattered foxing, toning, edge wear, tears and other age-related defects throughout. Several illustrated plates remain particularly clean and attractive despite the surrounding condition. Please examine photographs carefully for condition.
A scarce original 1880 Sonoma County history, offered as an unrestored example retaining its original boards and numerous striking nineteenth-century portrait illustrations.
*has not been formally collated, and no guarantee of absolute completeness is made.*
