Artful Deeds in the Life of the Felon, Grovenor Layton. A Tale of the California Gold Rush.

San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1998 Book. Fine. Hardcover. One of 350 copies designed and printed by Peter Koch. Reprinted, with an excellent and extensive introduction by Richard H. Dillon, from the issue of 1853. Small quarto. [4], 71pp. Title page portrait, 5 illustrations from early engravings, one facsimile. Red cloth-backed pictorial boards, paper spine label. A mint copy with publisher's slipcase. A fictitious biographical tale of an American charlatan named Grovenor Layton during the California Gold Rush and his convincing story of robbery, murder, and arson, ending with his own lynching in Sonora, California. "Another example of fiction presented as fact" (Kurutz). Dillon calls this work, "the best-written book in terms of ... seeming authenticity." The original edition is very rare. See: [Howes: L-159; Kurutz: 641]..