Aurifodina Or, Adventures In The Gold Region, A Fantastical '49Er Novel Written By Cantell A. Bigley [G.W. Peck]. With A Preface By James D. Hart, And Collage Illustrations By Burce Conner. (With) Prospectus by Cantell A. Bigly (George Washington Peck); Preface By James D. Hart; Collage Illustrations By Bruce Conner - 1974

The Book Club of California, 1974. First Edition. Very Good to Near Fine condition.

San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1974. First thus. Hardcover. Near fine. First thus. Hardcover. Octavo.First Thus. 103pp. Preface by Professor James D. Hart. Collage illustrations by Bruce Conner. Black Cloth; gilt front cover and spine titling. One of 400 un-numbered copies printed in San Francisco at the Press of Andrew Hoyem. A reprint of the 1849 first American novel dealing with the California Gold Rush. Prospectus laid-in. This copy belonged to Tom Andrews, retired executive director of the Historical Society of Southern California with his bookplate on paste-down.

New.

New York: Baker and Scribner, 1849. First edition. One of the earliest lost-race novels written in America," Bleiler. Inscribed and signed "G.W. Peck" by the author in pencil, dated 1852. Original plain paper boards, lacking spine covering, mild browning and dampstaining throughout. Written to capitalize on the California Gold Rush, about which it is considered the first published work of fiction. Its narrator reaches the valley of Aurifodina, where gold is common and of little value, while iron and steel are highly valued by its advanced civilization. Presentation copies are rare, with none having appeared at auction according to Rare Book Hub and ABPC. The Book Club of California published a new edition, illustrated by Bruce Conner, in 1974. Bleiler, Science-fiction, the Early Years, 204; Kurutz, The California Gold Rush, 490.