GERSTÄCKER (Friedrich). Scenes from California life. Genève, - Lot 31

GERSTÄCKER (Friedrich). Scenes from California life. Genève, imprimerie de Jules-Gme Fick, 1859. Large in-8, 260-(4 of which on verso are white) pp. in blue chagrined percaline with cold decoration (publisher's binding). First edition of Gustave Revilliod's French translation of a selection of short stories from the collection Californische Skizzen originally published in German by Friedrich Gerstäcker in Leipzig in 1856. French edition unknown to Sabin, who cites an 1860 edition. STORIES BASED ON HIS EXPERIENCES AS A GOLD PROSPECTOR IN CALIFORNIA IN 1850. INTERESTING ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATION by Adolphe Gandon: 6 plates on chine appliqué out of text. FRIEDRICH GERSTÄCKER (1816-1872), AN ADVENTURER TO AMERICA AND A GREAT FIGURE OF GERMAN TRAVEL LITERATURE, showed his curiosity for far-off lands at an early age, setting sail for the United States in 1837, at the age of 21. He stayed for six years, traveling from New York State to Louisiana, living from his frequent hunts in the woods, as well as working as a lumberjack, a cowhand, a chocolate-maker, and so on. His longest stays were in Arkansas, where he became a farmer, then in Louisiana, where he ran a hotel. Back in Germany in 1844, he published his travel diary and a few unsuccessful plays, then became a bookseller, publishing novels set in America and his own translations of American authors, including Herman Melville. Involved in the revolutionary events of 1848, among the liberals in favor of German unification, he obtained funding from the Frankfurt Revolutionary Parliament and the great publisher Cotta to report on the German colonies in South America: he went to Brazil, Argentina and, leaving Buenos Aires, crossed the Andes in the middle of winter to reach Valparaiso. He then tried to strike it rich as a gold prospector in California, without success, and set sail on a whaler for the South Seas, passing through Tahiti, coming to Australia where he explored the Murray River, before returning to Europe via Java. Returning to Germany in 1852, he published novels based on his travel experiences, and finally met with success, particularly among young people. He visited South America again in 1860, followed the Duke of Saxe-Coburg to Egypt, and made a final visit to the Americas in 1867-1868, first to the USA (where he accompanied General Sherman to a pow-wow with Indian chiefs), then to Central America, Venezuela and the West Indies. A FINE COPY.