Gerstäcker's Travels.

An attractive copy of Friedrich Gerstäcker's account of his journey to San Fransisco in hopes of striking gold. He left Bremen in 1849, stopping at Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres before travelling overland to Valparaiso. After a short stay he struck for California and fortune: 'the new wonderful land, with its golden dreams'.

The latter half of the narrative, reccounting Gerstäcker's exploits in the Californian gold fields amongst the German emiggrant community, is 'one of the most entertaining and intelligent narratives of that period'. It is an invaluable record of the complexities of the barely regulated Gold rush and the discrimination he faced throughout his journey by being German.

This narrative appeared in several different guises around the same time with different titles and sometimes different translations. Two other english versions were published the year prior to this as Narrative of a Journey Round the World, both of which are larger and continue Gerstäcker's journey to Australia and Hawaii.

First edition; 8vo (19.5 x 13.5 cm); 2 double-paged linen-backed lithograph plates, library stamps to plates; contemporary full calf, gilt spine with gilt lettering piece, a little wear to spine and corners, otherwise a very good copy; 290pp.

Cowan II p.234; Kurutz 268; Norris 1217; Rocq 15818.