Edwards, Philip Leget.; Rocky Mountain Correspondence. A letter...published in Niles’ Weekly Register 11 October 1834.
Claremont [CA]: Privately printed, 1947. Blue green wrappers stitched at spine. Mild toning at wrapper fore-edges and spine. Chip at top-right front wrapper corner. Paperclip indent and rust marking first two leaves. Handwritten note on Dawson’s Book Shop stationery from Muir Dawson to a Ruth Louise Kestenbaum, dated August 20, 1947, laid in. Kestenbaum’s name in blue ink to front endpaper. A very good + copy. One of a small number of copies. Some library catalogs state that twenty copies were printed. 7 x 5 ." [2], 12, [1] pp. Item #17996
From the introduction (excerpted from the Missouri Enquirer): “Mr. Edwards, [the author], is a gentleman about 21 or 22 years old, and well known to many of our readers as a young man of worth and promise. His object at the Rocky Mountains was to civilize the Flat Head Indians. He was employed by and accompanied the Messrs. Lees, who were appointed by one of the eastern conferences to establish a mission among the above named Indians.”.
Muir Dawson (1921–2005) was the son of Ernest Dawson (1882-1947), the founder of Dawson's Book Shop, which has been in business since 1905, and is considered to be the oldest continuously running bookstore in Los Angeles. It's present proprietor is Muir's son, Michael. The included note confirms that he had a hand in printing the present work, under the auspices of one Mr. Foster, as a student at Claremont (“the enclosed booklet that I slaved away on last semester”). The work’s subject matter likely appealed to Muir’s mountaineering spirit. After Ernest’s death, Muir and his brother Glen assumed ownership of Dawson’s. The included note ends with the lines “I have my own small press now and am on fire about printing.” Muir's specialty in the business was fine printing and books about books. A charming bit of Dawsonsiana.
Price: $450.00