Lot of 2 illustrated lettersheets with correspondence from the same miner, James W. Ward to his parents in Richmond, IN, both dated at Volcano Bar of Middle Fork of the American River, June 15 and September 8, 1851. The earlier letter is on an 8.25 x 10.75 in. lettersheet with full-page cover illustration and 2.5pp of correspondence. The illustration is credited to Cooke & Lecount, San Francisco, and features eight scenes of Gold Rush life, starting with the voyage to California on the bark Eliza, gambling at Monte Bank after arrival in San Francisco, traveling to the mines, making camp, washing gold, and the final two frames being either "One of the few who return" to San Francisco with gold or "The End of the Many," showing a makeshift grave in the Sierra Nevadas. All scenes are positioned around a central illustration of an elephant, referencing the popular 19th-century idiom "Seeing the Elephant," meaning gaining life experience by making an arduous journey, such as traveling one of the trails to settle in the West, joining the Gold Rush, or going to war. In the letter, the miner responds to the first later he received while in California, relating to things back home in Indiana, and says all letters should now reach him through the post office in Coloma. He tells his father that he has spent $800 on a claim on the American River and expects to get $3,000 out of it, and is a partner in the "Ohio Volcano Mining Co." with 17 others who control 275 yards of the bed of the river. The second lettersheet is the same size, also sold by Cooke & Lecount, and features a more artistic representations of gold mining in California, titled "Miners at Work with Long Toms," copied from a daguerreotype sketch by Justh & Quirot. In the 2+pp of text, written one day after his one year anniversary in California, the young Mr. Ward tells his parents the claim is still paying well, but rains are threatening to drown them out. He says he has enclosed $5 of gold and will leave it to his parents to divide among themselves and his sisters, and he will probably not return home for at least a year. Condition: Wear to both letters, but interesting survivors nevertheless.
Lot of 2 illustrated lettersheets with correspondence from the same miner, James W. Ward to his parents in Richmond, IN, both dated at Volcano Bar of Middle Fork of the American River, June 15 and September 8, 1851. The earlier letter is on an 8.25 x 10.75 in. lettersheet with full-page cover illustration and 2.5pp of correspondence. The illustration is credited to Cooke & Lecount, San Francisco, and features eight scenes of Gold Rush life, starting with the voyage to California on the bark Eliza, gambling at Monte Bank after arrival in San Francisco, traveling to the mines, making camp, washing gold, and the final two frames being either "One of the few who return" to San Francisco with gold or "The End of the Many," showing a makeshift grave in the Sierra Nevadas. All scenes are positioned around a central illustration of an elephant, referencing the popular 19th-century idiom "Seeing the Elephant," meaning gaining life experience by making an arduous journey, such as traveling one of the trails to settle in the West, joining the Gold Rush, or going to war. In the letter, the miner responds to the first later he received while in California, relating to things back home in Indiana, and says all letters should now reach him through the post office in Coloma. He tells his father that he has spent $800 on a claim on the American River and expects to get $3,000 out of it, and is a partner in the "Ohio Volcano Mining Co." with 17 others who control 275 yards of the bed of the river. The second lettersheet is the same size, also sold by Cooke & Lecount, and features a more artistic representations of gold mining in California, titled "Miners at Work with Long Toms," copied from a daguerreotype sketch by Justh & Quirot. In the 2+pp of text, written one day after his one year anniversary in California, the young Mr. Ward tells his parents the claim is still paying well, but rains are threatening to drown them out. He says he has enclosed $5 of gold and will leave it to his parents to divide among themselves and his sisters, and he will probably not return home for at least a year. Condition: Wear to both letters, but interesting survivors nevertheless.
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