1885. · Wilmington
by DuPont, Samuel F.
Wilmington: Ferris Bros., Printers and Binders, 1885.. [6],444pp. Original three-quarter morocco and marbled boards, spine gilt. Front hinge expertly repaired, else a near fine copy. "These extracts from DuPont's journal and letters, privately printed for his family by his wife after his death, are a valuable and almost unknown account of U.S. Naval operations in the Pacific and Gulf of California during the Mexican War. After conveying Fremont and his battalion from Monterey to San Diego and participating in the taking of San Blas, DuPont entered the Gulf of California, seized La Paz, and at Guaymas burned the Mexican fleet. Within a few months he had cleared the Gulf, and in 1847 aided Commodore Shubrick in the occupation of Mazatlan, and later led his troops to the rescue of the American forces at Mission San Jose" - Streeter. "The richest mass of first-hand source material extant on the conquest of California" - Eberstadt. "Even more important than DuPont's detailed and meticulous account of his own actions is his careful recording of the movements of, and communications with, other important figures with whom he was in almost constant contact" - Hill. Only fifty copies were printed for the family. STREETER SALE 2991. HOWES D588, "b." GRAFF 1184. BARRETT 744. HILL 521. GARRETT, p.207. EBERSTADT 132:173. REESE, BEST OF THE WEST 111 (note).
(Inventory #: WRCAM33181)