Alaska and the Klondike Gold Fields. Containing a Full Account of the Discovery of Gold; Enormous Deposits of the Precious Metal; Routes Traversed by Miners; How To Find Gold; Camp Life at Klondike; Practical Instructions for Fortune Seekers, Etc. Etc.
Philadelphia: J. S. Ziegler & CO., 1897. First Edition, First Printing.
A CONTEMPORARY GUIDE TO THE KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH OF 1897.
Published during the first great wave of Klondike gold fever, this illustrated guide offered prospective fortune seekers information about the newly discovered goldfields of Alaska and the Yukon. Combining accounts of the discoveries with travel routes, prospecting methods, mining conditions, and frontier life, it captures the excitement and uncertainty surrounding the rush.
The volume includes two maps, numerous illustrations, and accounts of miners, missionaries, women, and Indigenous communities. Its practical advice and contemporary observations make it a useful record of the Klondike Gold Rush at its outset.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.
+++ Publisher's original decorative brown cloth, with gilt-stamped lettering on the front cover and spine.
+++ Octavo hardcover, measuring 7.5 × 5 inches. xxiv, 312 pages.
+++ MAPS: Folding map of Alaska and the Yukon gold regions, together with a color map of Alaska.
+++ ILLUSTRATIONS: Numerous illustrations depicting gold mining, travel, landscapes, frontier settlements, and regional inhabitants.
CONTENTS: Accounts of gold discoveries, routes to the Klondike, prospecting techniques, camp life, survival conditions, and descriptions of the northern frontier.
+++ First Edition, First Printing. The Ziegler edition, identified by Streeter as preceding the Premier Publishing edition.
CONDITION: VERY GOOD. Binding tight and square. Minor rubbing to spine ends and corners; cloth lightly soiled and darkened with age. Text clean and intact, with moderate age-toning to the margins. The complete color map is retained despite separation from its attachment point. Repairs to the blank verso reinforce the folds.
THE KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH AND THE RACE NORTH—A GUIDE PUBLISHED AT THE HEIGHT OF GOLD FEVER.
The discovery of rich Yukon gold deposits brought international attention to the Klondike in 1897. Harris's book appeared as thousands of prospective miners prepared to travel north, offering routes, practical instructions, and descriptions of conditions awaiting them.
A CONTEMPORARY VIEW OF THE NORTHERN FRONTIER.
Beyond its prospecting advice, the book records the people and experiences associated with the gold rush, including women, missionaries, and Indigenous communities. Its descriptions of Indigenous customs reflect the attitudes and prejudices of nineteenth-century observers, making the work useful as evidence of contemporary perceptions as well as frontier history.
GENRES: Western Americana, Gold Rush Literature, Travel and Exploration, Mining History, Frontier Guides, Illustrated Books, Nineteenth-Century Americana.
SUBJECTS: Klondike Gold Rush, Alaska, Yukon Territory, Gold Mining, Prospecting, Northern Pacific Exploration, Frontier Life, Mining Camps, Indigenous Peoples, Nineteenth-Century Travel, Alaska Maps, Yukon Maps, American West.
Item #21018
Price: $325.00
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