Nov 17, 2016 - Sale 2432

Sale 2432 - Lot 78

Price Realized: $ 3,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
(CALIFORNIA.) McGowan, Edward. Narrative of . . . Adventures and Perils, while Persecuted by the San Francisco Vigilance Committee. 7 full-page engravings. 240 pages. 12mo, original pictorial wrappers, moderate wear; foxing, minor wear to corners. In modern full calf slipcase. San Francisco, 1857
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first edition. Ned McGowan (1813-1893) was a classic colorful character of the American West. He left a failing political career in Pennsylvania for the Gold Rush, and was soon appointed as a judge in San Francisco. He ran afoul of the extralegal Committee of Vigilance, was accused of being an accomplice to murder, and was forced to flee the city. This narrative was part of long effort to clear his reputation. Adams, Six-Guns 1408 ("excessively rare"); Cowan 1933, page 407; Graff 2611 (calls McGowan "a prime rascal"); Greenwood 842; Howes M103 ("b"); Sabin 43278; Streeter sale IV:2822; Wheat, Gold Rush, 132; Zamorano Eighty 54 ("one of the rare pieces of Californiana"). A wholly unsophisticated copy of a Californian classic.