Peter J. Blodgett
Land of Golden Dreams
California in the Gold Rush Decade, 1848-1858
$20.95, £14.95 hardcover
9780873281836
Available Now
$14.95, £10.95 paperback
9780873281829
Available Now
144 pages, 9 x 10-1/2 inches, 160 color illustrations
January 1999, Available worldwide
January 1999, Available worldwide
The Huntington Library holds the most important collection of Gold Rush materials in the United States. This book, a companion piece to the Huntington exhibit of the same title, brings the Gold Rush era to life through vivid anecdotes taken from actual journal entries, newspaper articles, and letters of the period. Lavishly illustrated and well-researched, Land of Golden Dreams is accessible to both historian and lay reader alike.
"A very good recapitulation-in-brief of California's history from just before the discovery of gold (1848) till the end of the antebellum period. . . . After first setting the scene for a sleepy, neglected Mexican province that was soon to be utterly transformed, Peter Blodgett explores the dreams and aspirations of '49ers; then considers their impact on California, the U.S. and the world in the 1850s, and even what we might call their residual influence into the 1990s."—Southern California Quarterly
"The text is well researched and written, but the reproduction quality of the illustrations—more than 150 are included—and their novelty are tough competition for the words."—The Bloomsbury Review
"The narrative is enlivened with quotes from diaries, letters, and newspapers and stunningly illustrated with drawings, maps, paintings, photographs, and objects. A concluding chapter reflects upon what the Gold Rush decade meant to California's future."—Nebraska History
"Gems from the Huntington holdings that vividly bring the Gold Rush to life include several of the watercolors of William Rich Hutton, the pencil sketches of J. Goldsborough Bruff, and haunting photographs and engravings depicting the wholesale assault on nature by the gold seekers. . . . The book is a model for exhibit catalogs and confirms that there is much material fresh and engaging for the interpretation of a familiar event."—Journal of the West
"The text is well researched and written, but the reproduction quality of the illustrations—more than 150 are included—and their novelty are tough competition for the words."—The Bloomsbury Review
"The narrative is enlivened with quotes from diaries, letters, and newspapers and stunningly illustrated with drawings, maps, paintings, photographs, and objects. A concluding chapter reflects upon what the Gold Rush decade meant to California's future."—Nebraska History
"Gems from the Huntington holdings that vividly bring the Gold Rush to life include several of the watercolors of William Rich Hutton, the pencil sketches of J. Goldsborough Bruff, and haunting photographs and engravings depicting the wholesale assault on nature by the gold seekers. . . . The book is a model for exhibit catalogs and confirms that there is much material fresh and engaging for the interpretation of a familiar event."—Journal of the West
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