[1884]. · Reno
by [Nevada Directory]: [Fulton, Robert L., editor]: [Driggs, Edwin, compiler]
Reno: Reno Evening Gazette, Book & Job Print, [1884].. 163pp. (endpapers and pastedowns included in pagination), advertisements throughout. Original printed green paper boards, expertly rebacked in dark blue morocco, spine gilt. Printed on newsprint and tanned throughout, a few leaves with a bit of edge wear. Very good. A very rare directory of Lake Tahoe and the Truckee region, thought for a time to be the first of the area, though that distinction is now accorded to W.F. Edwards' TOURISTS' GUIDE AND DIRECTORY OF THE TRUCKEE BASIN, published in Truckee the year before. Streeter describes the Edwards guide as "much more common" than the present directory. Quebedeaux does call this directory, compiled by Edwin Driggs and edited by Robert L. Fulton, "the first directory of the Lake Tahoe Resort area" and the second book printed in Reno, preceded only by a brand book published earlier the same year.
When this directory was published it was described by the NEVADA STATE JOURNAL of Reno as "quite elaborate and exceedingly comprehensive" (as quoted in Armstrong). Indeed, it lists twenty communities and camps (including lumber, ice, and railroad camps) in Nevada and California: Boca, Bronco, Camp 23, Camp 24, Camp 25, Clinton, Cuba, Essex, Lake Tahoe, Tahoe City, Tahoe Hot Springs, Incline Crystal Bay, Glenbrook, Rowland's, Tallac, Sugar Pine Point, Reno, Truckee, Verdi, and Wadsworth. The addresses of businesses, residents, organizations, and government offices are given, and occupations are often noted for the men and women listed. More than seventy advertisements appear - on the boards, pastedowns, and throughout the text; notably, Benton's Stage Line is not among them. Steamboat Hot Springs is represented by a full-page advertisement, though is not included in the directory portion. Armstrong notes that this directory was initially published at two dollars a copy, but that within a few months the price had been cut in half.
Perhaps the poor sales account in part for its rarity, as well as the fact that it was printed on poor quality newsprint, at the RENO EVENING GAZETTE. The American Imprints Inventory for Nevada lists only the copy at the Huntington Library. Quebedeaux and Armstrong add copies at the California State Library, Society of California Pioneers, Nevada Historical Society, Nevada State Musuem, the Washoe County Library, University of Reno, and a copy in a private collection (almost certainly the present copy). A copy offered at Anderson Galleries in 1918 described it as "the rarest California item extant," and Quebedeaux calls this directory "very rare." Thomas W. Streeter acquired his copy from Edwin Grabhorn in 1936 at a cost of $10, and it sold for $700 at the Streeter sale in 1968. This is the first copy we have handled, and the first copy that we know of in the market since the Streeter copy. QUEBEDEAUX 151. ARMSTRONG 1681. HOWES F415, "aa." PAHER 647. AII (NEVADA) 294. ROCQ 6260. STREETER SALE 2361. (Inventory #: WRCAM57700)
When this directory was published it was described by the NEVADA STATE JOURNAL of Reno as "quite elaborate and exceedingly comprehensive" (as quoted in Armstrong). Indeed, it lists twenty communities and camps (including lumber, ice, and railroad camps) in Nevada and California: Boca, Bronco, Camp 23, Camp 24, Camp 25, Clinton, Cuba, Essex, Lake Tahoe, Tahoe City, Tahoe Hot Springs, Incline Crystal Bay, Glenbrook, Rowland's, Tallac, Sugar Pine Point, Reno, Truckee, Verdi, and Wadsworth. The addresses of businesses, residents, organizations, and government offices are given, and occupations are often noted for the men and women listed. More than seventy advertisements appear - on the boards, pastedowns, and throughout the text; notably, Benton's Stage Line is not among them. Steamboat Hot Springs is represented by a full-page advertisement, though is not included in the directory portion. Armstrong notes that this directory was initially published at two dollars a copy, but that within a few months the price had been cut in half.
Perhaps the poor sales account in part for its rarity, as well as the fact that it was printed on poor quality newsprint, at the RENO EVENING GAZETTE. The American Imprints Inventory for Nevada lists only the copy at the Huntington Library. Quebedeaux and Armstrong add copies at the California State Library, Society of California Pioneers, Nevada Historical Society, Nevada State Musuem, the Washoe County Library, University of Reno, and a copy in a private collection (almost certainly the present copy). A copy offered at Anderson Galleries in 1918 described it as "the rarest California item extant," and Quebedeaux calls this directory "very rare." Thomas W. Streeter acquired his copy from Edwin Grabhorn in 1936 at a cost of $10, and it sold for $700 at the Streeter sale in 1968. This is the first copy we have handled, and the first copy that we know of in the market since the Streeter copy. QUEBEDEAUX 151. ARMSTRONG 1681. HOWES F415, "aa." PAHER 647. AII (NEVADA) 294. ROCQ 6260. STREETER SALE 2361. (Inventory #: WRCAM57700)