Beschreibung:

Title: A Biographical Sketch of the Life of William B. Ide: with a Minute and Interesting Account of One of the Largest Emigrating Companies (3,000 Miles Overland), from the East to the Pacific Coast. And What Is Claimed as the Most Authentic and Reliable Account of "the Virtual Conquest of California, in June 1846 by the Bear Flag Party," as Given by Its Leader, the Late Hon. William Brown Ide Author: Ide, Simeon Place: [Claremont, NH] Publisher: Published for the subscribers Date: [1880] Description: [2], 239, [1] pp. 6½x4½, original half brown morocco and cloth, front cover titled in gilt, raised spine bands, all edges gilt, housed in a custom cloth clamshell box with gilt-lettered morocco spine label and inner velvet lining. One of just 80 known copies printed for subscribers in a deluxe binding. First Edition. Exceedingly rare and important book on the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846. One of only about 80 copies believed printed and bound for the subscribers in a special deluxe leather binding. Contains one of the few published overland journals from a woman's point of view and has the only account published to date of an event pivotal in California history, the Bear Flag Revolt. William Brown Ide settled in northern California in 1845 and became a leader of the short-lived Bear Flag Revolt. Ide along with his daughter recount those early years, both their trip across the plains to California and the Bear Flag Revolt. Contains his own account of that affair written before his death in 1852 and not published until 1880 when his brother, Simeon Ide (86 years old at the time), set the type and printed only a few copies for members of the family and close friends. J. Gregg Layne in Zamorano Eighty declares "This little book is source material, and the only volume published thus far that deals exclusively with this incident of California History... The edition was small and copies are now extremely rare." This copy complete with the half-title ("Scraps of California History Never Before Published"), under which title the book is sometimes catalogued. Cowan II p.301; Graff 2059; Howes I4; Zamorano Eighty 45; Streeter 2967. Lot Amendments Condition: Minor wear overall, faint foxing; a extraordinary copy, fine and bright, gilt lettering intact. Copies seldom seen this nice, if ever. Item number: 165060