Old Tales Of San Francisco Book

Old Tales of San Francisco gathers together some of the best writing from and about the City of Saint Francis from the last decades of the 18th through the first years of the 20th century. San Francisco's literary heritage is rich, but elusive and scattered. Much of the highest quality and most revealing writing about San Francisco is out of print, buried in long-forgotten journals and books, or else available only in expensive, limited edition reprints. What this book contains is only a sampling of the abundant treasures that lie buried in books, papers, and microfilms of San Francisco's libraries. If you enjoy what you find here, and are led to search out and read works like Father Maria's diary, Bayard Taylor's 'El Dorado', or Gelett Burgess' 'The Heart Line,' then 'Old Tales of San Francisco' has done its job. The material in this book is divided into three main historical areas: 1775-1848 (founding years to gold rush); 1849-1869 (gold rush to the completion of transcontinental railroad), and 1870-1906 (railroad to the fire and earthquake of 1906). To help the reader envision the context of the works, each selection begins with a brief historical sketch of San Francisco during the years when the works appeared. Each author's work or works is then introduced by a modest preface that should give each selection a biographical context.