Edited by Edith M. Coulter. Illustrated with 8 collotype plates reproducing drawings by Coit. 13¼x9, cloth-backed boards, paper cover & spine labels. One of 325 copies printed by the Grabhorn Press. First Edition.

Coit arrived in San Francisco in April 1849, planning not to mine but to exchange gold and silver coin and thereby realized a comfortable commission. Kurutz notes that "the letters provide an outstanding glimpse of the business and social life of San Francisco during that `Golden Spring.' His business activities allowed the leisure time to produce a series of beautifully detailed pencil sketches of San Francisco and Benicia...." George P. Hammond is quoted as saying "Coit was one of the successful financiers of the city." Coit returned to the east in 1852. Graff 795; Kurutz 143; Rocq 8919.