Sold by William Reese Company, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Association Member:
AbeBooks Seller since 13 July 2006
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
A landmark Gold Rush satire, and the most popular of California pictorial letter sheets. James Mason Hutchings was something of a Christian activist and was particularly involved in the Sabbath movement, urging church attendance and for businesses in mining districts to close for the day (their "indiscretions" are lampooned here in Commandment IV). He originally wrote the text of The Miner's Ten Commandments in response to this and other generally "sinful" behavior around the mines, and published it in the Placerville Herald. When Hutchings saw that other newspapers were pirating the text he decided to secure his copyright by publishing it as a letter sheet. He eventually had thousands of copies produced, going from mining camp to mining camp, selling them himself. This is the first of three editions of this enormously successful letter sheet (Hutchings himself claimed that he sold 97,000 copies in a year), with the apostrophe between the R and S of "Miner's." This letter sheet launched Hutchings' publishing career, which would include dozens more letter sheets, broadsides, periodicals, and books. This letter sheet prints the three-column text of the "commandments" surrounded by woodcut scenes of each, the illustrations drawn by the talented Harrison Eastman. Samples of the commandments include "Thou shalt have no other claim than one," "Thou shalt not remember what thy friends do at home on the Sabbath day," "Thou shalt not kill thy body by working in the rain," and "Thou shalt not tell any false tales about 'good diggings in the mountains.'" Of particular interest is the cameo appearance at the head of the broadside by the "elephant," an important gold rush icon, pointing with his trunk to the commandments posted on a cabin. According to the brief introductory legend, the prospecting Moses of these commandments encountered an elephant who led him to the commandments, which were tacked on a shingle. In Gold Rush iconography, seeing the elephant meant "seeing it all," leading one to surmise the chosen miner was anything but green. This copy is postmarked and addressed on the integral blank to Sherman Adams, Westfield, Massachusetts. Sherman Adams founded the library at Westfield State University while a student there in 1858, which was known as the Sherman Adams library until it was renamed for Massachusetts Governor Joseph Ely in the mid-20th century. After graduating, Adams became owner of the Westfield News Letter. It is uncommon to find such letter sheets that were actually used and sent through the mail, as this copy was. An important and entertaining Gold Rush artifact. KRUSKA, JAMES MASON HUTCHINGS OF YO SEMITE 1a. BAIRD, CALIFORNIA PICTORIAL LETTER SHEETS 167. CLIFFORD LETTER SHEET COLLECTION 180. GRAFF 2028. AII (CALIFORNIA) 248. GREENWOOD, APPENDIX A, 75. Old folds. Light foxing, lower edge slightly chipped with loss of two letters in copyright statement. Very good overall.
Seller Inventory # 57805
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