1071

Redwood and Lumbering in California Forests, 1884, VF-XF, Choice [197044]

Currency:USD Category:Books / Antiquarian & Collectible Start Price:3,500.00 USD Estimated At:7,000.00 - 13,000.00 USD
Redwood and Lumbering in California Forests, 1884, VF-XF, Choice [197044]
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An exceptional rarity, and one of only a handful or two of original California works published with twenty four (24) original albumen prints inside the book, all in excellent condition. "Redwood and Lumbering in California Forests with Illustrations" was published in December, 1884, with very little promotion. It was published by Edgar Cherry, a "traveling agent" for the Sonoma Democrat newspaper. By March, 1885, Cherry was hired for the same job by the San Francisco Call.

This work was originally offered through a four page "prospectus" touting the wonders of the redwood logging industry in California, particularly Humboldt County. To put this printed work in perspective, few in the world had actually seen the giant trees in California by the 1880s. Many in America had read about the Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron Gigantum) because of massive publicity by New York promoters who cut one down in a remote area roughly twenty miles east of the Motherlode mining town of Angels Camp and shipped the bark to reconstruct the tree (think Barnum...) in the 1850s. But the cousin of the giant sequoia, the California Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) had hardly been seen by anybody. And remember - some redwoods are more than 300 feet tall, unimaginable to most people who have never seen trees of this nature.

Cherry, as agent for the Sonoma Democrat, traveled the back roads of northern California. In an interview, the writer stated: "He has been from Siskiyou to San Diego, and says Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt are the boss (best) counties of the state." (3/28/85 Sonoma Democrat).

We found no advertisements for this book in California newspapers. Only one notice of its publication was located in Calif. digital newspapers from the 12/7/84 Daily Alta (San Francisco): "Edgar Cherry of 431 Clay St. have published a book about xx pages describing lumbering among the redwoods in California, with a number of very good photographic views of the process of lumbering and logging, from the tree to the plank." It appears that Cherry may have limited his "advertising" to press notices (few) and the 4pp "prospectus", which he may have sent out to prospective clients. The prospectus indicated a (possible) print run of 500 copies; but based upon the actual rarity of the original work, I (fh) doubt that more than 100, even if that number, were ever printed. It would have been very expensive to produce, and thus possibly made on demand.

The work is listed in both editions of Cowan, and was listed by Gary Kurutz in his work on California books using original albumen prints. Few of the bibliographers list key specifics. In example, OCLC notes that each volume may contain different prints than others. But upon inspection, each photograph of the 24 contained in each volume (4 1/4 x 7 1/2" each) is hand numbered on the negative. In this volume, the highest numbered photograph is 119. Many of the photographs contain the exact same title, but the views are all different. The inventory of the photographs in this volume is (format: order in the book - photo number [#n] as it appears in the photo - title:
1- #21 - Distant view of redwoods...; 2 - #42 - Yager Creek; 3 - #72 - Redwoods on Yager Ck...; 4 - #38 - Redwoods on the Van Duzen; 5 - #7 - In the redwoods on the Van Duzen; 6 - #35 - in the redwoods on Yager Ck...; 7 - #8 - on the Van Duzen; 8 - #40 - in the redwoods on the van Duzen; 9 - #45 - in the redwoods, elk river; 10 - #3 - felled timber; 11 - #11 - logging with donkey engine; 12- #10 - same; 13 - #12 - Felled timber; 14 - #15 - logging with donkey engine; 15 - #16 - same; 16 - #9 - Dolbeer's patent locomotive; 17 - #81 - logs on the landing; 18 - #109 - elk river logs ready...; 19 - #30 - logs at the landing; 20 - #46 - same; 21 - #34 - logging train; 22 - #23 - going into the mill; 23 - #4 - Evans third saw; 24 - #61 - untitled.

The photos themselves are historic. Presented here, for what I believe for the first time, is the Dolbeer's locomotive, an engine developed expressly for the timber business - in this case for giant timber.

We were unable to find out if there is a complete "set" of Cherry's photographs. By publishing this list, perhaps an archivist can start the construction of Cherry's photographic inventory. There are no internal marks found in this example, no x-library marks, etc. Please inspect. This is an historical masterpiece of the redwood timber industry, in an era before they were protected by National Parks.

-PS. I (fh) went to Humboldt State, now Cal Poly Humboldt, 1971-1975, right in the middle of redwood territory. My experience there was nothing short of phenomenal. You never get tired of these magnificent giants, a true "wonder of the world."
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