gold

This is a thick tabletop book with large print and 100 breathtaking color illustrations and photos of gold miners throughout. The lure of achieving instant wealth with the relatively low equipment cost of prospecting was called "gold fever." The author covers almost four decades, from 1849—just after the first discovery of gold in California—to 1884, when the hydraulic mining companies ceased operations. It also discusses a horrific side effect of the gold rush—the massacre and extermination of Native Americans in California.

This book is a compilation of prints of covers (or envelopes) and postcards from the California Gold Rush featuring detailed information about each illustration. It portrays the adventure involved in prospecting for gold. Mining expert Kenneth Kutz begins his story with the discovery of gold in California and explores the connection between the gold rush and philately. Then he discusses mining law. Finally, he presents the reader with 20 years of correspondence to and from people working in the gold fields, beginning with the initial discovery of gold in 1848.

This book is a reprint of the original, so many of the black-and-white images are fuzzy. Nevertheless, it is a very exciting read. Many people assume that the prospectors who participated in the California Gold Rush traveled there overland from the eastern states. But it was actually a worldwide gold rush, with many prospectors traveling by sea. Even prospectors from Maine often traveled by sea. Because the Panama Canal had not yet been built, travelers to California had to sail around Cape Horn.

This 50-page book is copy number 160 of only 500 in a limited-edition printing. Number six of the Pacific History Series, this book's cover features a handsome 1867 image of the wooden side-paddle wheel steamer "China." This ship was manufactured to transport mail across the Pacific, from San Francisco to Japan. One side effect of the California Gold Rush was the increase of California's commercial ties with Asia.

This gold-covered book is especially appropriate for the Smithsonian Library's golden anniversary celebration. In the early days of the U.S. postal system, mail traveled to California overland, or by steamship, pony, jackass (pack mule), and railroad. The goal was to connect isolated California with the rest of the United States. At almost four hundred pages in length, this book contains hundreds of black-and-white photos (and a few color plates) of canceled covers—envelopes stamped by the post office so they cannot be reused as fresh postage.