Details
BURTON, Richard Francis. The City of the Saints and Across the Rocky Mountains to California. New York: Harper, 1862.
8o (232 x 148 mm). 3 maps on 1 folding plate, a folding plan and 8 wood-engraved plates and a few illustrations in text. Original blind stamped cloth, spine gilt lettered. Provenance: Susan W. Flint (signature on preliminary blank).
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Burton's American adventure began on a whim; he was weary of the "nimglow gorgeousness of the East," the "monotonous savagery" of Africa and his ongoing feud with Speke. He produced this objective account of the West although he admitted to "a tendency to look upon things generally in their ludicrous of absurd aspects," but reviewers were severely critical of his liberal views on Mormonism and polygamy. Penzer p. 68-69; Casada 28; Spink 23.
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FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Burton's American adventure began on a whim; he was weary of the "nimglow gorgeousness of the East," the "monotonous savagery" of Africa and his ongoing feud with Speke. He produced this objective account of the West although he admitted to "a tendency to look upon things generally in their ludicrous of absurd aspects," but reviewers were severely critical of his liberal views on Mormonism and polygamy. Penzer p. 68-69; Casada 28; Spink 23.