Lot 285: [SAN FRANCISCO PANORAMA—1862.] GIFFORD, CHARLES B. 1830-1880. Panoramic View of San Francisco. San Francisco: A. Rosenfield, 1862.

GIFFORD, CHARLES B. 1830-1880. Panoramic View of San Francisco. San Francisco: A. Rosenfield, 1862.
Five-panel lithographed panoramic view, approximately 370 x 2720 mm extended, linen-backed. With title leaf on blue paper printed in gilt on verso of first panel. Folded into original blue cloth boards gilt-lettered and with gilt device: "Buswell & Co. / S.F.;" "Historical Sketch of California" broadside as pastedown. Custom cloth clamshell case. Varnish (original?), sectional titles trimmed close, affecting imprint, a few minor spots and creases, title-sheet with tear, broadside browned, light wear to portfolio, ties lacking.

FIRST EDITION OF THIS RARE VIEW OF SAN FRANCISCO LOOKING OUT FROM RUSSIAN HILL. The view shows a city which, as the "Historical Sketch" points out, had expanded from about fifty dwellings and a population of 200 in 1846 to between 80,000 and 90,000 people at the time of the view in 1862. Despite the concentrated mass of structures, every building appears skillfully articulated. 121 points of interest are numbered in the view and listed in the margins below. Section 1: Looking west, showing Point Lobos, Telegraph, City Water Works, Greenwich St. School. etc; Section 2: Looking north, showing Jones St., Taylor St., Pfeiffer's Castle, etc.; Section 3: Looking east, showing Telegraph Hill, Vallejo St., Jackson St. Wharf, Jewish Synagogue, etc.; Section 4: Looking east and south, showing Broadway, Second St., Steamboat Point, etc.; Section 5: Looking south and west, showing Mission Bay, Jobson Observatory, Calvary Cementery, etc. Peters California on Stone pp 167-8. Reps Views 290-295.
Acquisition: purchased from Jeffrey Thomas Fine & Rare Books, 2001, $13,500.