How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

The Illustrated California News
San Francisco: Cook & Le Count, November 1, 1850. Vol. 1, No 4. Printed newspaper. 4to. pp. 25-32. Disbound; scattered minor spotting.

The first illustrated newspaper printed on the West Coast, and one of the earliest illustrated newspapers ever printed in America.

An important and scarce California Gold Rush-era illustrated newspaper, The Illustrated California News was a semi-monthly periodical which began publication in September 1850 under the editorship of J.M. Carleton. Over the course of three months, six issues were published before Carleton folded operations, with the focus kept exclusively on recording current events and presenting images and descriptions of the new state's unique geography. The present issue features a long editorial by Carleton discussing the benefits of bringing more women to California, arguing, "It is upon the solid and substantial weight of those whose family ties bind them to social order which we must depend...The youth who is loose upon the world is an anarchist by nature."

Of particular interest is a rare pre-settlement view (likely the first ever printed) of Vallejo, then slated to become the first capital of the state of California, of which Carleton writes, "This is a view...[of] Vallejo, the proposed permanent seat of Government for the State of California, and on that account will probably be considered as one of the most interesting subjects that could have been offered our readers." Though the legislature met here in 1851, the decision was made to move the State Government to Sacramento in 1854; despite the move, Vallejo continued to grow and is today the second-largest city in the Bay Area. The present issue also features views of Portsmouth Square Park, the first public park in San Francisco, and of Dead-Man's Bar, one of the most gold-rich (and hazardous) areas in the region. Wagner 80.

Together with:

Manuscript Document
No place, no date. Single sheet, 10 1/4 x 8 1/2 in. (260 x 216 mm). Two-page manuscript document in an unidentified hand, titled "The actual & prospective effects of the California gold mines on the United States." Creasing from old folds; light soiling.