Bancroft publications

The Bancroft Library is recognized around the world for its special collections of historical materials.

Our publications

Bancroftiana

Search the UC Berkeley Library’s Digital Collections site for all indexes and issues of Bancroftiana. Users can also use full text search to find an individual name or word. 

Press publications

None of The Bancroft Library Press Publications are for sale. Copies are only available for viewing in the Reading Room.

For opportunities to learn more, see the The Bancroft Library Press course.   

2017

El Carrero de la Basura Pide un Favor
Introduction and translation by José Adrián Barragán-Álvarez
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2017
Call number forthcoming

2016

My Diamond Sutra: New and Selected Poems
By Joseph Stroud
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2016
Call number forthcoming

Mark Twain's American Menu
By Mark Twain; Introduction by Robert Hirst
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2016
Call number forthcoming

2015

The famous battle horse of Emiliano Zapata
Introduction by Ramon Hernandez and Theresa Salazar; Translation by Charles Faulhaber
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2015
Sixty copies printed
Call number: pf PQ7297.A1 F3613 2015

En Cuba
By John Brandi
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2015
Sixty copies printed
Call number forthcoming

2014

The Bookworm
Edited by Les Ferriss
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2014
Sixty copies printed
Call number forthcoming

Horace: Four Odes from Book One
By Quintus Horatius Flaccus; Translation by Michael Taylor
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2014
Call number forthcoming

2013

Pastures New
By Michael McClure
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2013
Sixty copies printed
Call number forthcoming

Cloud Pavilion: A Kyoto Suite
By John Brandi
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2013
Call number: f PS3552.R297 C56 2013

Six Poems
By Gary Young
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2013
Call number forthcoming

2012

And Who Wants Peace? Adrian Wilson at The Greenwood Press
By Adrian Wilson; Introduction by Jack Stauffacher
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2012
Call number: pf Z232.W75.A3 2012

The Severist Manifesto
By Belle Randall
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2012
Fifty copies printed
Call number: pf PS3568.A488.S48 2012

Thom & Belle: A Constant Friendship
By Thom Gunn and Belle Randall
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2012
Fifty copies printed: bound in Canson wrappers
Call number: pf PS3568.A488.Z48 2012

2011

Prospero Alpino on Coffee
By Prospero Alpino; Translation by Brendan Haug
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2011
Forty copies printed: bound in Canson wrappers
Call number: pf RM246 A47 2011

Ecological Eclogues
By George R. Stewart
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2011
Forty copies printed: bound in Canson wrappers
Call number: pf PS3537.T48545.E36 2011

Anton Francesco Doni: Reflections on a Florentine Printer
By Jack Werner Stauffacher
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2011
Forty-five copies printed: bound in Canson wrappers
Call number: pf PQ4621.D5.Z875 2011

Bruce Conner: On Drugs (and Art)
By Bruce Conner; Introduction by Dean Smith
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2011
Forty-five copies printed: bound in Canson wrappers
Call number: pf NC139.C658.A3 2011

2010

On Board Orizaba
By Helen Hunt Jackson; Introduction by Dylan Esson
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2010
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf PS2107.O5 2011

Zapata and Mexican Land Reform
By Emiliano Zapata; Introduction by Paul Ramirez; Translation by Charles B. Faulhaber
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2010
Thirty-five copies printed: bound in Canson wrappers
Call number: pf F1234.Z3 R36 2010

Jess: Seven Versions from the Gallowsongs of Morgenstern
By Jess
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2010
Forty-five copies printed: bound in Canson wrappers
Call number: pf PS3553.O4748.G3 2010

The Massacre at Sand Creek: Dictation taken from Mrs. J. W. Prowers, West Las Animas, July 19, 1886
By Amy Prowers; Introduction by Theresa Salazar
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2010
Forty-six copies printed
Call number: pf E83.863 .P76 2010

2009

Letters from Mississippi
By Mario Savio; Introduction by Robert Cohen
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2009
Seventy-five copies printed
Call number: pf E185.93.M6 S38 2009

Our First Great Blue Columbine
By Florence Merriam Bailey; Introduction by Susan Snyder
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2009
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf SB413.C634 B34 2009

My School House
By Elizabeth Powell; Introduction by Susan Snyder
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2009
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf LC5147.C2 P6 2009

2008

Rights of Beast
By Michael McClure
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2008
Forty-five copies printed: bound in illustrated paper wrappers
Call number: pf PS3563.A262.R5 2008

2007

Book Thieves and Literary Spirits: Hubert Howe Bancroft Award Acceptance Speech
By Isabel Allende
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2007
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf PQ8098.1.L54.B66 2007

Jess: Three Poems
By Jess; Afterword by Norma Cole
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2007
Thirty-five copies printed: bound in gray paper wrappers
Call number: pf PS3553.O4748.J47 2007

2006

My Dear Mac: Three Letters by Ambrose Bierce
By Ambrose Bierce; Introduction by Gray Brechin
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2006
Thirty copies printed: bound in dark red paper wrappers
Call number: pf PS1097.Z5.A4 2006

2005

123 W. Longitude, 38 N. Latitude: Anne W. Booth's 1849 Journal
By Anne W. Booth; Introduction by Theresa Salazar
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2005
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf F865.B668 2005

Map Poems
By Jack Spicer; Introduction by Kevin Killian and Peter Gizzi
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2005
Thirty-five copies printed: bound in brown paper wrappers
Call number: pf PS3569.P47.M37 2005

2004

April 18, 1906: From the Knox Papers
Introduction by Theresa Salazar
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2004
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf F869.S3.A67 2004

In the Line of the Grotesque and Monstrous
By Clark Ashton Smith; Introduction by D. S. Black
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2004
Fifty copies printed: bound in burnt orange wrappers
Call number: pf PS3537.M335.Z487 2004

2003

Africa
By Ruth Weiss
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2003
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf PS3573.E46.A35 2003

2002

The Narrative of H. D. La Motte, California Adventurer: His Account of the Discovery of Humboldt Bay
By Harry Didier La Motte; Introduction by Gray Brechin
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2002
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf F868.H8.L2 2002

A Bear Hunt: Narrative of a Journey from St. Louis to California, via Fort Leavenworth, Fort Union and Santa Fe, and Thence across Arizona, 1857-1858
By Henry Washington Carver
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2000
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: SK295.C38 2002

2001

Britomar's Road Diaries: August 1935
By Britomar Lathrop
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2001
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf CT275.L2765.B7 2001

Crystals: kriz
By Philip Lamantia
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2001
Forty-five copies printed: sewn into Fabriano wrappers
Call number: pf PS3562.A42.C79 2001

2000

Select One or More: Poems
By Ted Joans
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2000
Bound in brown paper wrappers and inscribed by the author
Call number: pf PS3560.O2.S35 2000

Bloody Murder in San Francisco
By Llewellyn Zublin; Introduction by Theresa Salazar
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 2000
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf F869.S3.Z8 2000

1999

Antoninus on Antoninus: A Letter from Brother Antoninus to Allan Campo
By William Everson; Introduction by Allan Campo
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1999
Fifty copies printed: bound in green paper wrappers
Call number: pf PS3509.V65.Z483 1999

A Display of Printing Types
Edited by Les Ferriss
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1999
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf Z250.D57 1999

1998

The Last Words of Arthur Rimbaud
By Barry Gifford
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1998
Forty copies printed: signed by the author
Call number: pf PS3557.I283.L37 1998

Seeing the Elephant: Excerpts from the Gold Rush Journal of E. A. Ingalls
By E. A. Ingalls; Edited by Les Ferriss; Foreward by Kerwin Lee Klein
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1998
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf F865.I49 1998

1997

My Dear Rearden: A Letter
By Ambrose Bierce; Introduction by Les Ferriss
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1997
Call number: pf PS1097.Z5.A4 1997

Letters from a Young Writer
By Thomas Sanchez
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1997
Forty-five copies printed
Call number: pf PS3569.A469.Z483 1997

1996

From Work-In-Progress
By Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1996
Fifty copies printed: bound in illustrated paper wrappers
Call number: ff PS3511.E557.F7 1996

Soul Cinders
By Michael McClure
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1996
Forty-five copies printed: bound in red paper wrappers
Call number: PS3563.A262.S67 1996

1995

Would You Like to Saddle Up a Couple of Goldfish and Swim to Alaska?
By Richard Brautigan; Introduction by Burton I. Weiss
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1995
Fifty copies printed
Call number: PS3503.R2736.W6 1995

The Sparrows Move South: Early Poems
By Gary Soto
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1995
Thirty-five copies printed: signed by the author
Call number: p PS3569.O72.S6 1995

1994

A Letter from Guatemala
By Gómez Díaz de la Reguera; Introduction by Anne Mohr; Translation by Vikki DuRee
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1994
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf F1463.3.D5 1994

Lumberjacks & Cowboys
By Elers Koch
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1994
Thirty-five copies printed: bound in gray illustrated paper wrappers
Call number: p F731.5.K6 1994

1993

Exploring the Edge: Giustiniani's Account of Columbus in the Margins of the 1516 Polyglot Psalter
By Agostino Giustiniani; Introduction by Anthony Bliss
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1993
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: p E111.G5 1993

Type Founders' Grievance: Reprinted from Caslon's Circular, Volume III, Number 8, January 1877

Introduction by Hermann Zapf
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1993
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: p Z589.T9 1993

1992

A Sea Journey
By Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1992
Thirty-five copies printed: bound in blue paper wrappers
Call number: PS3511.E557.S42 1992; A6.5 no. 421

An Account of Type Founding: Reprinted from Caslon's Circular Volume II, Number 5, January 1876
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1992
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf Z250.A533 1992

1991

Upon Hearing Leonard Wolf's Poem on a Madhouse, January 13, 1947
By Robert Edward Duncan
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1991
Forty-one copies printed
Call number: pf PS3507.U629.U6 1991

1990

An Earthly Paradise
By Katherine Adams; Introduction by Anthony Bliss
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1990
Thirty copies printed
Call number: Z232.M872.A43 1990

1989

Sarah Prideaux: A Pupil's Tribute
By Katharine Adams; Introduction by Anthony Bliss
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1989
Twenty-five copies printed
Call number: Z269.2P75.A43 1989

Walks about Berkeley
By Cornelius Beach Bradley
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1989
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf F869.B5.B84 1989

1988

A Typeface for the University: Being a Letter Written by Frederic W. Goudy in December 1936
By Frederic W. Goudy; Introduction by Wesley B. Tanner
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1988
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: pf Z232.G68.A425 1988

1987

Boscovich in Baja California
By Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich; Introduction by Robin E. Rider; Translation by Roger Hahn
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1987
Twenty-five copies printed
Call number: p Q143.B7.A33 1987

Receipts from Newton Cottage
Printer's note by Wesley B. Tanner
Berkeley, CA: Bancroft Library Press, 1987
Thirty copies printed
Call number: p TX717.R4 1987

1986

A Collection of Printed Books of Hours at The Bancroft Library
Introduction by Patrick J. Russell Jr.
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1986
Twenty-five copies printed
Call number: p Z7838.H6.B3 1986

Wooded Up in Log Town: A Letter from the Gold Fields, 1851
By William Binur; Introduction by Dr. Richard Schwab
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1986
Thirty copies printed
Call number: p F865.B55 1986

1985

A Supper in Montmartre
By Harriet Lane Levy; Introduction by James D. Hart
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1985
Thirty copies printed
Call number: f F860.L575.A3 1985

1984

"I Do Set a Clean Proof"
By Mark Twain; Afterword by Robert Hirst
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1984
Twenty-five copies printed
Call number: p PS1331.A3 1984

A Selection of Type Ornaments: The Merrymount Press Collection of Daniel Berkeley Updike Now at The Bancroft Library
Printer's note by Wesley B. Tanner
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1984
Twenty-five copies printed
Call number: pf Z232.M515.S4 1984

1983

On Making the Emerson Type
By Joseph Blumenthal
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1983
Twenty copies printed
Call number: pf Z250.E52.B5 1983

Fighting Terms: A Selection
By Thom Gunn
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1983
Twenty-five copies printed: bound in black wrappers
Call number: pf PR6013.U65.F5 1983

Dear Mr. de Coverly: Six Letters Written Between 1883 & 1914
By T. J. Cobden-Sanderson; Foreword by Anthony Bliss
Berkeley: The Bancroft Library Press, 1983
Thirty-five copies printed
Call number: TYP AA1.A3.C564 1983

Special publications

Many of our special publications can be purchased through The Bancroft Store. Please contact bancroft-library.berkeley.edu for availability and pricing.

Autobiography of Mark Twain Volume 3 cover thumbnail
Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3

Edited by Benjamin Griffin, Harriet Elinor Smith, Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Amanda Gagel, Sharon K. Goetz, Leslie Diane Myrick, and Christopher M. Ohge, 2015

Created from March 1907 to December 1909, these dictations present Mark Twain at the end of his life: receiving an honorary degree from Oxford University; railing against Theodore Roosevelt; founding numerous clubs; incredulous at an exhibition of the Holy Grail; credulous about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays; relaxing in Bermuda; observing (and investing in) new technologies. The Autobiography's "Closing Words" movingly commemorate his daughter Jean, who died on Christmas Eve 1909. Also included in this volume is the previously unpublished "Ashcroft-Lyon Manuscript," Mark Twain's caustic indictment of his "putrescent pair" of secretaries and the havoc that erupted in his house during their residency.

At last the Autobiography of Mark Twain is made available as it was intended to be read. The text of all three volumes, with annotations and full critical apparatus, is available at Mark Twain Project Online

cover of: Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2  Edited by Benjamin Griffin, Harriet E. Smith, Victor Fischer, Michael Barry Frank, Sharon K. Goetz, Leslie Diane Myrick, 2013
Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2

Edited by Benjamin Griffin, Harriet E. Smith, Victor Fischer, Michael Barry Frank, Sharon K. Goetz, and Leslie Diane Myrick, 2013

Mark Twain's complete, uncensored Autobiography was an instant bestseller when the first volume was published in 2010, on the centennial of the author's death, as he had requested. Published to rave reviews, the Autobiography was hailed as the capstone of Twain's career. It captures his authentic and unsuppressed voice, speaking clearly from the grave and brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions.

Volume 2, published in 2013, delves deeper into Mark Twain's life, uncovering the many roles he played in his private and public worlds. Filled with his characteristic blend of humor and ire, the narrative ranges effortlessly across the contemporary scene. He shares his views on writing and speaking, his preoccupation with money, and his contempt for the politics and politicians of his day. Affectionate and scathing by turns, his intractable curiosity and candor are everywhere on view. 

cover of: Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2  Edited by Benjamin Griffin, Harriet E. Smith, Victor Fischer, Michael Barry Frank, Sharon K. Goetz, Leslie Diane Myrick, 2013
Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1

Edited by Harriet Elinor Smith, Benjamin Griffin, Victor Fischer, Michael Barry Frank, Sharon K. Goetz, and Leslie Diane Myrick, 2010

"I've struck it!" Mark Twain wrote in a 1904 letter to a friend. "And I will give it away—to you. You will never know how much enjoyment you have lost until you get to dictating your autobiography." Thus, after dozens of false starts and hundreds of pages, Twain embarked on his "Final (and Right) Plan" for telling the story of his life. His innovative notion—to "talk only about the thing which interests you for the moment"—meant that his thoughts could range freely. The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for 100 years meant that when they came out, he would be "dead, and unaware, and indifferent," and that he was therefore free to speak his "whole frank mind."

The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Twain's death. In celebration of this important milestone and in honor of the cherished tradition of publishing Mark Twain's works, Berkeley Press is proud to offer for the first time Mark Twain's uncensored autobiography in its entirety and exactly as he left it. This major literary event brings to readers, admirers, and scholars the first of three volumes and presents Mark Twain's authentic and unsuppressed voice, brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions, and speaking clearly from the grave as he intended. 

Many of our special publications can be purchased through The Bancroft Store. Please contact bancroft-library.berkeley.edu for availability and pricing.

cover of: Teaching the Slow Event

Teaching the Slow Event

By Lyn Hejinian, 2017

The thirteenth Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment, accomplishments, and abundance of Judith's life.

cover of: This Bequest of Wings

"This Bequest of Wings" On Teaching Poetry in a Region of Conflict

By Rachel Tzvia Back, 2016

The twelfth Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment, accomplishments, and abundance of Judith's life.

cover of: Body Musics

Body Musics and the Empire of Time

By Ross Gay, 2015

The eleventh Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment, accomplishments, and abundance of Judith's life.

cover of: Hog Killing By Nikky Finney, 2014

Hog Killing

By Nikky Finney, 2014

The tenth Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment, accomplishments, and abundance of Judith's life.

cover of: The Life of Creative Translation

The Life of Creative Translation

By Gary Snyder, 2013

The ninth Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment, accomplishments, and abundance of Judith's life.

cover of: Learning from Translation  By Chana Bloch, 2012
Learning from Translation

By Chana Bloch, 2012

The eighth Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment, accomplishments, and abundance of Judith's life.

cover of: A History of My Befuddlement  By Philip Levine, 2009
A History of My Befuddlement

By Philip Levine, 2009

The sixth Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment and accomplishments and abundance of Judith's life.

cover of: Poetry, Love, and Mercy  By Carl Phillips, 2009
Poetry, Love, and Mercy

By Carl Phillips, 2009

The fifth Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment, accomplishments, and abundance of Judith's life.

What Does an Elegy Do?  By Sharon Olds, 2009
What Does an Elegy Do?

By Sharon Olds, 2009

The fourth Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment, accomplishments, and abundance of Judith's life.

cover of: Cracks in the Oracle Bone: Teaching Certain Contemporary Poems  By Brenda Hillman, 2008
Cracks in the Oracle Bone: Teaching Certain Contemporary Poems

By Brenda Hillman, 2008

The third Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment, accomplishments, and abundance of Judith's life.

"You Only Guide Me by Surprise": Poetry and the Dolphin's Turn  By Peter Sacks, 2007
"You Only Guide Me by Surprise": Poetry and the Dolphin's Turn

By Peter Sacks, 2007

The second Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment and accomplishments and abundance of Judith's life. Peter Sacks gives an inspiring lecture about the origins of poetry, conjuring ancient and mystical connections among dolphins, poets, and poetic inspiration.

cover of: On Teaching Poetry By Robert Hass, 2006
On Teaching Poetry

By Robert Hass, 2006

The first Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry was part of an event recognizing the commitment and accomplishments and abundance of Judith's life. A commemoration of Judith’s love of poetry and her love of teaching, this lecture (led by Robert Hass) relights the lamp of her brilliance that was extinguished on November 29, 2002.

Many of our special publications can be purchased through The Bancroft Store. Please contact bancroft-library.berkeley.edu for availability and pricing.

over of: Literary Industries: Chasing a Vanishing West  By Hubert Howe Bancroft and edited by Kim Bancroft, 2013
Literary Industries: Chasing a Vanishing West

By Hubert Howe Bancroft and edited by Kim Bancroft, 2013

A bookseller in San Francisco during the Gold Rush, Hubert Howe Bancroft (1832-1918) rose to become the man who would define the early history of California and the West. Creating what he called a "history factory," he assembled a vast library of more than sixty thousand books, maps, letters, and documents; hired scribes to copy material in private hands; employed interviewers to capture the memories of early Spanish and Mexican settlers; and published multiple volumes sold throughout the country by his subscription agents. In 1890 he published an eight-hundred-page autobiography, aptly entitled Literary Industries.

Literary Industries sparkles with the exuberance of nineteenth-century California and introduces us to a man of great complexity and wit. Edited and abridged for the modern reader yet relating the history of the West as it was taking place—and as it was being recorded—Kim Bancroft's edition of Literary Industries is a joy to read.

cover of: Beyond Words: 200 Years of Illustrated Diaries  By Susan Snyder, 2011
Beyond Words: 200 Years of Illustrated Diaries

By Susan Snyder, 2011

Beyond Words is a collection of excerpts from 50 illustrated diaries spanning 200 years of adventure and contemplation. From the records of 18th-century Spanish explorer Pedro Font to those of a young David Brower first encountering the wilderness, these unfolding stories reveal as much about the times in which they were written as they do the diarists’ particular inner worlds. Whether filled with chicken-scratch sketches or gilded illuminations, these diaries have become objets d’art that expand our understanding of the uniquely compelling experiences of their creators—from anonymous writers to luminaries like LeConte and Muir, and from Beat poets to 12-year-old girls. Beyond Words is a fascinating and intimate collection that will inspire you to pull out pen and paper to capture the fleeting images and experiences of your own life.

cover of: Celebrating Mexico  Edited by Charles Faulhaber, 2010
Celebrating Mexico

Edited by Charles Faulhaber, 2010

A generously illustrated bilingual catalogue, jointly published by The Stanford University Libraries and The Bancroft Library, commemorates the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. It accompanies the concurrent "Celebrating Mexico" exhibits held at both institutions. In addition to three scholarly essays and a complete checklist of each library's exhibition, 86 full-color images drawn from the collections of both institutions illustrate aspects of Mexican Independence and significant events of the Revolution. 

Bancroft Anniversary Poster  By David Lance Goines, 2009
Bancroft Anniversary Poster

By David Lance Goines, 2009

This limited edition poster by renowned Berkeley artist David Lance Goines celebrates the 100th anniversary of The Bancroft Library at Berkeley and the 150th anniversary of its foundation.

cover of: Songs of California: The U.C. Berkeley Tradition  Compiled by the Cal Song Book Committee, 2007
Songs of California: The U.C. Berkeley Tradition

Compiled by the Cal Song Book Committee, 2007

The 1890s saw the beginning of the creation of Cal’s college songs, and that tradition continued strongly through the 1930s. Cal songs were played by the Cal Band and sung by all the living groups, spirit groups, and the Glee Club—not only at athletic events but also at all University occasions. In 1944, these representations of school spirit were compiled into a portable song book, Songs of California, from which students could learn them. The turbulent 1960s, however, took their toll on this musical tradition, and fewer and fewer students and alumni actually knew, sang, or played these wonderful songs. This new Songs of California is intended, as was its 1944 predecessor, to preserve Cal’s rich musical heritage and revitalize the singing and playing of these songs. It includes the selections of the earlier version, as well as a number of new ones written since the 1944 publication. The musical score, along with background history, is provided for each song.

cover of: Exploring The Bancroft Library  Co-edited by Charles Faulhaber and Stephen Vincent, 2006
Exploring The Bancroft Library

Co-edited by Charles Faulhaber and Stephen Vincent, 2006

Out of Print

In this centennial guide, readers are introduced to the day-to-day life of an institution devoted to the collection, preservation, and study of original documents. From an in-depth look at the way material is acquired and conserved to chapters by individual curators on the history and highlights of the collections entrusted to their care, this book celebrates Bancroft's one hundred years on the Berkeley campus.

Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848  By Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz, 2006
Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848

By Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz, 2006

From the editors of the highly influential Lands of Promise and Despair, here are thirteen women’s firsthand accounts from the time California was part of Spain and Mexico. Having lived through the Gold Rush and seen their country change so drastically, these women understood the need to tell the full story of the people and the places that were their California. Some of their words are translated here into English for the first time.

cover of: Un Manuscrito Inedito de Poesias de Jose Joaquin Fernandez de Lizardi  By Nancy Vogeley, 200
Un Manuscrito Inédito de Poesías de José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi

By Nancy Vogeley, 2004

Nancy Vogeley examines the emergence of the novel in Mexico at the conclusion of Spain's 300 years of colonial rule. Acknowledged as Spanish America's first novelist, José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi introduced the genre into Mexico during its war of independence. His 1816 novel, El Periquillo Sarniento, became the symbol of new nationhood, and his commentary on social issues contributed to the revolutionary dialogue.

cover of: Drawn West: Honeyman Collection of Western Americana By Jack Von Euw & Genoa Shepley, 2004
Drawn West: Honeyman Collection of Western Americana

By Jack von Euw and Genoa Shepley, 2004

Out of Print

The Honeyman Collection could be described formally as a collection of more than 2,300 items that focus on the visual interpretation of California and the West from 1790 through the early 1930s. During the days of exploration and settlement, the region was full of adventure, danger and wonders—and before there were cameras, artists depicted all of it.

cover of: Bear in Mind: The California Grizzly  By Susan Snyder, 2003
Bear in Mind: The California Grizzly

By Susan Snyder, 2003

Once arguably the most powerful and terrifying animal in the California landscape, the grizzly now lives in the imagination, a disembodied symbol of the romantic West. More than 150 images from The Bancroft Library's collections—newspaper illustrations, paintings, photo albums, sheet music, settler's diaries, fruit crate labels, and more—accompany the bear stories of Indians, explorers, vaqueros, forty-niners, and naturalists. The result is a uniquely compelling natural history, a grand book worthy of its subject.

cover of: Esteban Jose Martinez His Voyage in 1779 to Supply Alta California  Edited by Vivian C. Fisher, 2002
Esteban José Martínez: His Voyage in 1779 to Supply Alta California

Edited by Vivian C. Fisher, 2002

The 1779 diary of Esteban José Martínez details his voyages on the frigate Santiago, including visits to "the establishments of San Francisco, Monterey, and San Diego." The text is transcribed in the original Spanish language and translated into English.

cover of: Guide to the Manuscripts Concerning Baja California in the Collections of the Bancroft Library  Edited by Rose Marie Beebe and Robert Senkewicz, 2002
Guide to the Manuscripts Concerning Baja California in the Collections of The Bancroft Library

Edited by Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz, 2002

This guide contains more than 5,000 entries for resources in The Bancroft Library relating to the history of Baja California. Important resources on maritime history, mission history, demographic history, and trans-border relationships are identified in the Spanish-language publication.

cover of: Silicon Raj: Making a Difference To America's Future  Photos by Rick Rocamora, 2001
Silicon Raj: Making a Difference to America's Future

Photos by Rick Rocamora, 2001

Silicon Raj is a photo-documentary work to honor the contributions of Indians in America, in business, the arts, publishing, medicine, academia, and many other fields.

cover of: Catalogue of the Regional Oral History Office  Edited by Suzanne B. Riess and Willa K. Baum, 1979
Catalogue II of the Regional Oral History Office

Edited by Suzanne B. Riess, 1998

Continuing from Catalogue I, Catalogue II covers the interviews completed from 1980 to 1998, capturing the accounts of both individuals and entire communities. These oral histories give rich insight to the generation of winegrowers who re-created the industry after Prohibition, the lawyers and judges who made the California Supreme Court arguably the most influential state tribunal in the country, the artists and musicians who have enriched our lives, the philanthropists who have given of their time and money to make the Bay Area a better place to live, and the businesspeople who have created one of the most dynamic regional economies in the United States.

cover of: Mark Twain at Large: Exhibition Catalog  By Lin Salamo, Harriet Elinor Smith, and Robert Pack Browning, 1998
Mark Twain at Large: Exhibition Catalog

By Lin Salamo, Harriet Elinor Smith, and Robert Pack Browning, 1998

Out of Print 

This award-winning catalogue documents a major exhibition at The Bancroft Library drawn from the Mark Twain Papers. An excerpt is available as a Bancroft web exhibition.

cover of: The Gold and Silver of Spanish America, c. 1572-1648  By Engel Sluiter, 1998
The Gold and Silver of Spanish America, c. 1572-1648

By Engel Sluiter, 1998

Through an extensive search of archival resources in Spain and Spanish America, the author has compiled a wealth of quantitative data on the quantity and allocations of gold and silver in Spanish America. The information is presented in tabular form with brief introductions before each section, showing bullion declared for taxation in colonial royal treasuries, remittances to Spain, and expenditures for defense of empire. This synthesis of data is based upon materials found in the Engel Sluiter Historical Documents Collection at The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

cover of: Utah Pioneer Merchant: The Memoirs of Samuel H. Auerbach  Edited by Judith Robinson, 1998
Utah Pioneer Merchant: The Memoirs of Samuel H. Auerbach

Edited by Judith Robinson, 1998

Samuel H. Auerbach was a German Jewish immigrant who became a financial success and pillar of the community in Salt Lake City, Utah. The original memoir forms part of the Samuel H. Auerbach Papers in The Bancroft Library.

cover of: The Weber Era in Stockton History  By George P. Hammond, 1989
The Weber Era in Stockton History

By George P. Hammond, 1989

A history of Bavarian-born Charles Weber’s arrival in California in 1841, his pioneering years in California, his founding of Stockton, establishment of a 48,000 acre rancho in the Central Valley, and his long and successful marriage to Helen Murphy, whose father had immigrated to California in 1844.

cover of: Contemporary Danish Book Art: Exhibition Catalog  By Poul Steen Larsen, 1988
Contemporary Danish Book Art: Exhibition Catalog

By Poul Steen Larsen, 1988

This exhibition catalog, with illustrations in color and in black and white, accompanied a 1988 display of Danish books that traveled throughout the United States. The works represented in this publication demonstrate that the art of book-making is very much alive in modern Denmark.

cover of:  A Check-list of Publications of H. H. Bancroft and Company, 1857 to 1870  By Henry R. Wagner and Eleanor Bancroft with a preface by Ruth Frey Axe, 1987
A Check-list of Publications of H. H. Bancroft and Company, 1857 to 1870

By Henry R. Wagner and Eleanor Bancroft with a preface by Ruth Frey Axe, 1987

This checklist includes a wide variety of imprints produced by the firm of H. H. Bancroft and Company, the corporate title used during the collaborative period of Hubert Howe Bancroft and his brother Albert Bancroft.

cover of: Reminiscences  By George P. Hammond, 1986
Reminiscences

By George P. Hammond, 1986

George P. Hammond served as Director of The Bancroft Library from 1946 to 1965. His reminiscences trace family life from early years in North Dakota, to which the Hammond family had immigrated from Denmark, to Hammond's emeritus years at Bancroft till 1985.

cover of: Guide to The Book Artifacts Collection  By Flora Elizabeth Reynolds, 1985
Guide to The Book Artifacts Collection

By Flora Elizabeth Reynolds, 1985

The Book Artifacts Collection (BART) at The Bancroft Library contains materials relating to the development of writing, the history of printing, and the various book arts. This illustrated guide offers information for the uninitiated and the expert and includes a detailed subject and name index.

cover of: A Guide to the Life and Works of Frederick J. Teggart  By Grace Dangberg, 1983
A Guide to the Life and Works of Frederick J. Teggart

By Grace Dangberg, 1983

In 1930 Frederick J. Teggart, a humanist, delivered a Phi Beta Kappa oration at Berkeley before the University of California chapter. He concluded with these words: "The next thirty years will determine whether, as humanists, we are to take our place as the true representatives of the ideal that the affairs of men should be directed not by opinion, ignorance, and self-seeking, but by the highest exercise of human intelligence." In the fifty years since these words were spoken, natural and physical scientists have made significant advances; yet we still live in a culture, a society, a civilization that we do not understand. Such understanding must come about, as Teggart emphasized repeatedly, from studying the records of man's experience in answer to the question: How has man everywhere come to be as he is?

cover of : The Writing of My Uncle Dudley  By Wright Morris, 1982
The Writing of 
M
y Uncle Dudley

By Wright Morris, 1982

Wright Morris, noted author of numerous works including a novel, My Uncle Dudley (1942), delivered this talk at the opening of the exhibition, "First Books by Notable Authors," at The Bancroft Library, February 21, 1982. The Bancroft Library houses many examples of his printed and manuscript materials.

cover of: Les Jeunes: An Account of some Fin de Siecle San Francisco Authors and Artists  By Lawrence Dinnean, 1980
Les Jeunes: An Account of Some Fin de Siècle San Francisco Authors and Artists

By Lawrence Dinnean, 1980

This pamphlet details the origins and development of a group of avant-garde San Francisco writers and artists at the end of the nineteenth century. The group adopted the name "Les Jeunes," a phrase first coined in a New York Times review of Lark, a magazinelet first published by the group in 1895. The pamphlet was issued to accompany an exhibition at The Bancroft Library, Feb. 25-May 16, 1980.

cover of: Catalogue of the Regional Oral History Office  Edited by Suzanne B. Riess and Willa K. Baum, 1979
Catalogue of the Regional Oral History Office

Edited by Suzanne B. Riess and Willa K. Baum, 1979

Since the 1950s, the Regional Oral History Office (now the Oral History Center) has been interviewing leading figures and well-placed witnesses to major events and trends in the history of Northern California, the West, and the nation. This catalogue, covering work completed from 1954 to 1979, reflects the strong role of the Berkeley campus in this tremendous undertaking: the subject fields and persons for interviewing are recommended by many sources within the University and community-wide, and approved by the faculty. These oral histories are created as primary resources for research to be preserved for all users, present and future.

cover of: The Plate of Brass Reexamined  By The Bancroft Library, 1977
The Plate of Brass Reexamined: A Supplement

By The Bancroft Library, 1979

This pamphlet summarizes further testing on the Plate of Brass, once thought to have been left by Sir Francis Drake on the California coast in 1579, which was conducted under the auspices of The Bancroft Library in 1979.

cover of: The Plate of Brass Reexamined: A Supplement  By The Bancroft Library, 1979
The Plate of Brass Reexamined

By The Bancroft Library, 1977

In 1977, The Bancroft Library arranged for a new series of scientific tests of the Plate of Brass, once thought to have been left by Sir Francis Drake on the California coast in 1579. The results of the tests indicated that the brass was almost certainly of twentieth-century manufacture, thus suggesting that the Plate of Brass is a forgery. This report summarizes the original testing of the 1930s and the new testing of the 1970s.

cover of: Cow Hollow: Early Days of a San Franscisco Neighborhood from 1776  By John L. Levinsohn, 1976
Cow Hollow: Early Days of a San Francisco Neighborhood from 1776

By John L. Levinsohn, 1976

This San Francisco neighborhood, once known as Spring Valley, then Golden Gate Valley, and now Cow Hollow is a residential section of the city that dates back to the earliest Spanish settlements. This narrative discusses those beginnings, including the landowners and shifts in land use.

cover of: Earth Poetry  By William Everson, 1971
Earth Poetry

By William Everson, 1971

This portfolio contains the first separate edition of the essay "Earth Poetry." The text originally appeared in the Sierra Club Bulletin, July 1970, and was published in a 1980 collection of essays titled Earth Poetry: Selected Essays & Interviews.

cover of: Frank Norris Petitions The President and Faculty of The University of California  Introduction by Franklin Walker Dickerson, 1970
Frank Norris Petitions the President and Faculty of
 the University of California

Introduction by Franklin Walker Dickerson, 1970

This facsimile publication was issued on the occasion of the centennial of the birth of Frank Norris. The popular author attended Berkeley 1890-1894, leaving without a degree for a fifth year of study at Harvard University. The petition reproduced herein was prepared by Norris during the first semester of his sophomore year and requested permission to select his own college courses in order to concentrate on becoming a writer of fiction.

Poetry of The Golden Age  By Antonio Rodríguez-Moñino, 1968
Poetry of the Golden Age

By Antonio Rodríguez-Moñino, 1968

Antonio Rodríguez-Moñino presents the evidence used to sustain a critical reconstruction of Spanish poetry in the Golden Age. The discourse was read before the Modern Languages Association in New York, 1963.

cover of: Woman of California: Susanna Bryant Dakin  By W. W. Robinson, 1968
Woman of California: Susanna Bryant Dakin

By W. W. Robinson, 1968

In the first of an annual lecture series established by Mr. and Mrs. Jake Zeitlin in memory of Susanna Bryant Dakin, W. W. Robinson offers a fascinating portrait of a woman with many accomplishments, including invaluable service to The Bancroft Library as a Council member, editor and author, philanthropist, and tireless advocate.

cover of: The Padre on Horseback: A Sketch of Eusebio Francisco Kino, S.J. Apostle to the Pimas  By Herbert Eugene Bolton, 1963
The Padre on Horseback: A Sketch of Eusebio Francisco Kino, S.J., Apostle to the Pimas

By Herbert Eugene Bolton, 1963, reissued 1976

Father Kino is an important although under-appreciated pioneer of the American Southwest and Pacific Coast. Kino is described here as a "missionary, rancher, explorer, and geographer."

cover of: The Changing Responsibilities of a US Senator: An Address  By William Fife Knowland, 1959
The Changing Responsibilities of a U.S. Senator: An Address

By William Fife Knowland, 1959

United States Senator William F. Knowland delivered the address at the twelfth annual meeting of the Friends of the Bancroft Library on May 3, 1959. He discussed the evolution of duties for a U.S. Senator and offered observations on the lineage of U.S. senators from the State of California.

cover of: The California Background, Spanish or American?  By John D. Hicks, 1957
Landscapes and Bookscapes of California

By Lawrence Clark Powell, 1958

Noted author and librarian Lawrence Clark Powell offered this talk as the 11th annual address delivered before the Friends of The Bancroft Library on May 4, 1958. Powell offers a thoughtful essay that relates the physical landscape of California to the literary contributions offered by some of its most notable authors.

cover of: The California Background, Spanish or American?  By John D. Hicks, 1957
The California Background, Spanish or American?

By John D. Hicks, 1957

Delivered as the 10th annual address before the Friends of the Bancroft Library on May 5, 1957, this essay explores the ramifications for a state such as California, with roots in Spanish culture, and the traditions of many other nationalities. In that sense, concludes the author, "California today is, as [Frederick Jackson] Turner once said of the whole West, the most American part of America."

cover of: The Bancroft Library: Whence-What-Whither  By Carl Irving Wheat, 1955
The Bancroft Library: Whence-What-Whither

By Carl Irving Wheat, 1955

An address delivered on May 22, 1955, before The Friends of The Bancroft Library in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of its acquisition by The University of California by Carl, a lawyer, former Chairman of the Council of the Friends of The Bancroft Library and an author on many phases of the American West, including cartography, provides a historical perspective on the first half century of The Bancroft Library.

Reproduction of a Watercolor of a Dance in Peru  By Gunner William H. Meyers of the warship Cyane
Reproduction of a Watercolor of a Dance in Peru

By Gunner William H. Meyers of the warship Cyane

William H. Meyers served aboard the U.S. Sloop of War Cyane. His papers include an illustrated journal (July-Sept. 1842) recorded while in Chile and Peru; two letters, 1843 and 1844, describing further voyages to Hawaii, California, and Mexico on the Cyane; and six watercolors, including a self-portrait. This reproduction depicts a dance in Peru.

Reproduction of a Watercolor of the American Capture of Monterey, 1842  By Gunner William H. Meyers of the warship Cyane
Reproduction of a Watercolor of the American Capture of Monterey, 1842

By Gunner William H. Meyers of the warship Cyane

William H. Meyers served aboard the U.S. Sloop of War Cyane. His papers include an illustrated journal (July-Sept. 1842) recorded while in Chile and Peru; two letters, 1843 and 1844, describing further voyages to Hawaii, California, and Mexico on the Cyane; and six watercolors, including a self-portrait. This reproduction depicts the "Taking of Monterey, Oct 20th, 1842, by the Frigate United States Sloop of War Cyane in West California.”

Keepsakes

Keepsake 66

A Family in Transition:  The Letters Between Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and Francisca Benicia Carrillo de Vallejo, 1839-1888  

By Rose Marie Beebe and Robert Senkewicz  

The experiences of Hispanics who were living in California when it was annexed by the United States is a crucial element in our state's past. These experiences were a major concern of Hubert Howe Bancroft, who devoted five volumes of his History of California to the Spanish and Mexican eras. 

Keepsake 65

Writing Themselves into History: Emily and Matilda Bancroft in Journals and Letters

Kim Bancroft’s book is based on the writings of the wives of Hubert Howe Bancroft.

book cover

Keepsake 64 

Of exceptional importance and interest: Papyri Curated by Affiliates of the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri.

Edited by Emily Cole, Andrew Hogan and Todd Hickey, this beautiful book celebrates the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri's first twenty years with a series of short essays by alumni scholars on their favorite papyri. 

 

Mark Twain Civil War cover
Keepsake 63

Mark Twain's Civil War

By Mark Twain, and edited and with an Introduction by Benjamin Griffin, 2019

From the Mark Twain Project comes a freshly informed look at Twain's controversial Civil War story "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed." Aided by Twain's notes and correspondence—transcribed and published here for the first time—Benjamin Griffin of UC Berkeley's Mark Twain Project offers a new and cogent analysis, particularly of Clemens’\'s multiple revisions of his own war experience.

Colors of California Agriculture cover
Keepsake 62

Colors of California Agriculture

By Peter Goin and Paul Starrs, 2018

This volume by Peter Goin and Paul Starrs pairs materials from the Peter Goin and Paul F. Starrs California Agriculture Archive and the Peter Goin Digital Photograph Archive with items from other Bancroft Library historical agriculture archives.

The Clampers and Their Hoaxes cover
Keepsake 61

The Clampers and Their Hoax(es)

By James M. Spitze, Dr. Robert J. Chandler, Edward Von der Porten, Stephen Zovickian, 2018

This account is a fresh look at the complicated story of the Drake Plate, which has been merrily and meticulously reconstructed by Bancroft Friends Council member Robert Chandler along with his colleagues James Spitze, Stephen Zovickian, and the late Edward Von der Porten.

The Life Books of Doris Barr Stanislawski cover
Keepsake 60

The Life Books of Doris Barr Stanislawski: The 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition

By Doris Barr Stanislawski and edited, with introductions, by Theresa Salazar and Chris McDonald, 2017

Selected by Bancroft specialists Theresa Salazar and Chris McDonald from the illustrated PPIE scrapbooks of Doris Barr, the pages of this sumptuous facsimile album present the world's fair through the eyes and in the words of this perceptive fourteen-year- old girl from Stockton. She lived on the fair grounds for much of the Exposition and becomes our guide to the events she witnessed and commemorated in her scrapbooks.

America's Wine cover
Keepsake 59

America's Wine: The Legacy of Prohibition

Directed and produced by: Carla De Luca Worfolk, 2012

Bancroft Keepsakes have traditionally been print publications based on books or manuscripts in Bancroft's collections. This is the first one based on the oral histories in the Bancroft Center for Oral History. Since 1967 the oral history program has been documenting the history of the California wine industry with more than eighty oral histories to date of its significant figures. America's Wine both builds on and contributes to that series, since the interviews and outtakes from Carla Worfolk's project have now been added to Bancroft's collections.

Literary Industries: Chasing a Vanishing West cover
Keepsake 58

Literary Industries: Chasing a Vanishing West

By Hubert Howe Bancroft and edited by Kim Bancroft, 2013

A bookseller in San Francisco during the Gold Rush, Hubert Howe Bancroft (1832-1918) rose to become the man who would define the early history of California and the West. Creating what he called a "history factory," he assembled a vast library of over sixty thousand books, maps, letters, and documents; hired scribes to copy material in private hands; employed interviewers to capture the memories of early Spanish and Mexican settlers; and published multiple volumes sold throughout the country by his subscription agents. In 1890 he published an eight-hundred-page autobiography, aptly entitled Literary Industries.

Literary Industries sparkles with the exuberance of nineteenth-century California and introduces us to a man of great complexity and wit. Edited for the modern reader yet relating the history of the West as it was taking place—and as it was being recorded—Kim Bancroft's edition of Literary Industries is a joy to read.

By Sail for San Francisco cover
Keepsake 57

By Sail for San Francisco

By David W. Pettus, 2012

By Sail for San Francisco evokes the brief and colorful era of the clipper ships that brought thousands of hopeful individuals to California during the Gold Rush, when sailing around the Horn was the fastest way to the Pacific Coast from the eastern United States. In this choice little volume, Friends Council member David Wingate Pettus introduces readers to the clipper ship card, a rare advertising genre that peaked in the 1850s and soon disappeared when sailing vessels were eclipsed by steam ships and locomotives. The Bancroft Library has the largest collection of these beautiful little treasures—some 140 of them—in the West. Facsimiles of fifteen of Bancroft's clipper cards are included with the volume.

Beyond Words: 200 Years of Illustrated Diaries cover
Keepsake 56 

Beyond Words: 200 Years of Illustrated Diaries

By Susan Snyder, 2011

Beyond Words is a collection of excerpts from fifty illustrated diaries spanning two hundred years of adventure and contemplation. From the records of eighteenth-century Spanish explorer Pedro Font to those of a young David Brower first encountering the wilderness, these unfolding stories reveal as much about the times in which they were written as they do the diarists’ particular inner worlds. Whether filled with chicken-scratch sketches or gilded illuminations, these diaries have become objets d’art that expand our understanding of the uniquely compelling experiences of their creators—from anonymous writers to luminaries like LeConte and Muir, and from Beat poets to twelve-year-old girls. Beyond Words is a fascinating and intimate collection that will inspire you to pull out pen and paper to capture the fleeting images and experiences of your own life.

A Beaux-Arts Education: cover
Keepsake 55

A Beaux-Arts Education: The Architectural Education of Arthur Brown, Jr. at the École des Beaux-Arts Paris, France 1897-1903

Edited by Hans Baldauf, 2011

Arthur Brown, Jr. was San Francisco's most successful architect in the first half of the twentieth century. Educated at UC Berkeley under the tutelage of Bernard Maybeck and then at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Brown, along with his partner John Bakewell, gave the Bay Area many of the built landmarks that continue to define the region. In this wonderfully illustrated portfolio we can trace Brown’s education at the École, see through the example of one talented student its program and methodology, and trace the impact of this education on his career.

California as an Island: Maps from the Library cover
Keepsake 54

California as an Island: Maps from the Library

Edited by Glen McLaughlin, 2009

This reproduction of six early maps of California, selected and with an introduction and notes by Glen McLaughlin, Bancroft Friend and the world’s leading expert on the subject, shows how European cartographers struggled to resolve conflicting evidence about California's geography from the end of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th.

The Chinese Experience in California: Through Western Eyes, 1878-1902 cover
Keepsake 53 

The Chinese Experience in California: Through Western Eyes, 1878-1902

By The Friends of The Bancroft Library, 2008

This portfolio of six prints, watercolors, and oil paintings, selected and with an introduction and notes by Theresa Salazar, Curator of the Bancroft Collection of Western Americana, shows how western artists depicted the Chinese in California at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. This Keepsake presents a very small selection from The Bancroft Library’s holdings of visual representations of the lives and livelihoods of Chinese immigrants and their descendants in California.

Personal Memoranda: Samuel Hopkins Willey: The Journal of His Voyage to California, 1848-1849 cover
Keepsake 52

Personal Memoranda: Samuel Hopkins Willey: The Journal of His Voyage to California, 1848-1849

By Samuel Hopkins Willey and edited by James M. Spitze, 2007

Samuel Hopkins Willey was a leading force in the founding of California’s educational structure, helping to establish various institutions that include today's University of California. For over a century, The Bancroft Library has possessed both the on-the-spot diary of his voyage on the steamer California and a much longer recollection (written in 1877) of his entire trip to California—first on the steamer Fulton, then via canoe and mule-back across the Isthmus of Panama, and then via the steamer California up the coast to Monterey. Published for the first time, these two fascinating documents are interspersed with numerous period illustrations from The Bancroft Library’s vast collections. This Keepsake is a long overdue tribute to Cal's long-forgotten founder.

Past Tents: The Way We Camped cover
Keepsake 51

Past Tents: The Way We Camped

By Susan Snyder, 2006

From the award-winning author of Bear in Mind: The California Grizzly comes this lighter look at Americans’ infatuation with the great outdoors. Mining once again the vast archives at The Bancroft Library, Susan Snyder has mapped out this cheeky yet accurate history of camping in the West. Full of photographs and descriptions of family outings in the first years of the automobile, of campgrounds and campfires against the familiar backdrop of the Sierra Nevada, of the remarkable gear and "helpful" hints that accompanied outings to our newly minted state and national parks and forests, this Keepsake is a humorous romp through one of our favorite pastimes.

Exploring The Bancroft Library cover
Keepsake 50

Exploring The Bancroft Library

Co-edited by Charles Faulhaber and Stephen Vincent, 2006

In this centennial guide, readers are introduced to the day-to-day life of an institution devoted to the collection, preservation, and study of original documents. From an in-depth look at the way material is acquired and conserved to chapters by individual curators on the history and highlights of the collections entrusted to their care, this Keepsake celebrates Bancroft's one hundred years on the Berkeley campus. 

A Honeyman Portfolio: Images of Early California cover
Keepsake 49

A Honeyman Portfolio: Images of Early California

By the Friends of The Bancroft Library, 2005

The impressive array of 2,371 items comprising the Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. Collection of Early Californian and Western Art is a treasury of the works of artist-adventurers, surveyors, scientists, sailors, soldiers, and seekers of fortune and fame. The Honeyman Collection anchors The Bancroft Library’s pictorial holdings, augmenting and enhancing the library’s core collections of primary manuscript and printed sources of Western and Latin Americana. Based on the broad themes of Drawn West—Inhabitants and Travelers, The Land Beheld, By Land By Sea, Incident and Accident, Enterprise, and Wonder and Curiosity—the selection of six images for this Keepsake is not meant to be representative of the entire collection. They are a personal choice, based in part on their uniqueness to the collection. 

Bear in Mind: The California Grizzly cover
Keepsake 48 

Bear in Mind: The California Grizzly

By Susan Snyder, 2003

Once arguably the most powerful and terrifying animal in the California landscape, the grizzly now lives in the imagination, a disembodied symbol of the romantic West. More than 150 images from The Bancroft Library's collections—newspaper illustrations, paintings, photo albums, sheet music, settlers' diaries, fruit crate labels, and more—accompany the bear stories of Indians, explorers, vaqueros, forty-niners, and naturalists. The result is a uniquely compelling natural history, a grand book worthy of its subject.

Mark Twain, Press Critic cover
Keepsake 47 

Mark Twain, Press Critic

By Mark Twain with an introduction by Thomas C. Leonard, 2003

In two previously unpublished essays, "Interviewing the Interviewer" and "The American Press," Twain illuminates his lifelong worry over the American press. 

Songs of the Cowboys cover
Keepsake 46 

Songs of the Cowboys

Edited by Connie Loarie, 2001

This new edition of N. Howard "Jack" Thorp's Songs of the Cowboys, first published in 1908, includes a CD-ROM with a musical interpretation of selected songs by George Smith. This volume also contains a glossary of cowboy terms that first appeared in a 1921 edition. 

Uncertain Country cover
Keepsake 45 

Uncertain Country

Edited by Stephen Vincent, 2000

This selection of letters—spanning 1851-1854 and culled from more than 200 original documents in the Wingate Family Papers—illuminates the personal experiences of a father and a New Hampshire family separated during the California Gold Rush. Filled with extraordinary detail, these letters offer a dramatic and telling story of an epic period in American history. 

The Recipe Book of Lillie Hitchcock Coit cover
Keepsake 44 

The Recipe Book of Lillie Hitchcock Coit

Introduction by Carol Hart Field; edited by John C. Craig and transcribed by Barbara Hoddy, 1998

The original volume is a bound notebook of lined paper with 46 unnumbered leaves. It serves as an important artifact of a leading figure in San Francisco society during the 1870s and 1880s. To assist the reader, section headings and a table of contents have been added, as well as an index. The recipes collected by Mrs. Coit reflect the influence of French, Spanish, Mexican, and English traditions in cookery of the period.

he Poet's Eye: A Tribute to Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books cover
Keepsake 43

The Poet's Eye: A Tribute to Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books

Edited by Richard Ogar, 1997

This volume includes works and poetry from several authors, including Hettie Jones, Joanne Kyger, Andrew Hoyem, Michael McClure, S. A. Griffin, David Meltzer, Jack Micheline, Tom Clark, Ron Loewinsohn, Michael Palmer, Jack Foley, and Ariel and Ianthe Brautigan. Publication of this tribute coincided with a symposium, "Ferlinghetti, City Lights, and the Beats in San Francisco: From the Margins to the Mainstream," and an exhibition at The Bancroft Library in 1996. 

Frontier Reminiscences of Eveline Brooks Auerbach cover
Keepsake 42

Frontier Reminiscences of Eveline Brooks Auerbach

Edited and with an introduction by Annegret S. Ogden, 1994

The publication of these memoirs, supported by the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation, offers the reader an exemplary sample of nineteenth-century American Life in the frontier West. With chapter headings such as "Pony Express," "Our Life Among the Mormons," and "Salt Lake City, 1877," Auerbach paints an intimate portrait of life.

Harriet Martineau and America: Selected Letters from the Richard S. Speck Collection cover
Keepsake 41 

Harriet Martineau and America: Selected Letters from the Richard S. Speck Collection

Edited and with an introduction by R. A. Burchell, 1995

This collection of letters written by Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) gives considerable insight to the inner mind of this remarkable woman and prolific writer. Her work most frequently appeared in newspapers, where she took it upon herself to explain complex social and political issues to those she saw as less sophisticated than herself.  Her intellectual mind ranged freely from the theoretical to the practical, and she wrote on subjects as diverse as the philosophy of Auguste Comte and the keeping of cows. 

The Diary of Captain Luis Antonio Arguello, 1821: The Last Spanish Expedition in California cover
Keepsake 40 

The Diary of Captain Luis Antonio Arguello, 1821: The Last Spanish Expedition in California

Translated by Vivian C. Fisher with an introduction by Arthur Quinn, 1992

This brief but informative diary chronicles the last expedition conducted under Spanish rule in California. Captain Arguello's diary, published here in translation, dates from October 17 to November 17, 1821.

egacy of James D. Hart at The Bancroft Library cover
Keepsake 39 

The Legacy of James D. Hart at The Bancroft Library

Edited by Anthony S. Bliss, 1991

This illustrated volume celebrates an exhibit prepared to mark the accomplishments and contributions of James D. Hart, former Director of The Bancroft Library. The catalog offers a brief selection of acquisitions from 1970 through 1990 and demonstrates the scope and quality of scholarly research materials in the collection. 

A Yosemite Camping Trip, 1889 cover
Keepsake 38 

A Yosemite Camping Trip, 1889

By Joseph N. LeConte, 1990

Joseph N. LeConte wrote this journal of a trip to Yosemite in 1889 as a nineteen-year-old in the company of his father, Joseph LeConte, Professor of Geology and Natural History at Berkeley. The elder LeConte was 66 years old at the time of this trip and had relocated from South Carolina in 1869 to join the University in the year of its founding. Both men enjoyed mountain climbing and joined the Sierra Club as charter members. The younger LeConte served as president and honorary leader of the Sierra Club from 1931 until his death in 1950. The account of this trip is illustrated by photographs taken with an early Kodak camera. 

Kipling in California cover
Keepsake 37

Kipling in California

Edited by Thomas Pinney, 1989

On May 28, 1899, the noted author Rudyard Kipling arrived in San Francisco aboard the Pacific Mail Company steamship SS City of Peking. At this time Kipling was a newspaper editor, not yet twenty-four years old, and largely unknown in international circles. This volume publishes a series of letters Kipling composed during his eighteen days in San Francisco, and a group of three short stories he wrote about California. 

Three Memoirs of Mexican California cover
Keepsake 36 

Three Memoirs of Mexican California

By Carlos N. Hijar, Eulalia Pérez, and Augustin Escobar, and translated by Vivian C. Fisher, 1988

These three memoirs were created in 1877 by Hubert Howe Bancroft and Thomas Savage, one of his chief assistants. Each memoir is presented in facsimile (in the original Spanish handwriting) and with an English translation. The translations seek to retain the style of the original speaker. 

Through the Black Curtain cover
Keepsake 35

Through the Black Curtain

By Maxine Hong Kingston, 1987

The author presents a series of annotated excerpts from several of her popular writings on the Chinese-American experience in the United States. The volume includes passages from The Woman Warrior (1976), China Men (1980), and Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book (1987).

Nineteenth-Century Illustrators of California Sights and Scenes
Keepsake 34

Nineteenth-Century Illustrators of California Sights and Scenes

By Lawrence Dinnean, 1986

The author divides nineteenth-century illustrations of California into three categories: the output of official artists and draftsmen who accompanied scientific and exploring expeditions; the personal sketches and drawings of travelers and settlers; and the professional work of journal and print illustrators. The publication includes biographical sketches of prominent California illustrators and reproductions of notable works.

The Grangerford-Shepherdson Feud
Keepsake 33 

The Grangerford-Shepherdson Feud

By Mark Twain, 1985

This reproduction of the Century Magazine publication of Mark Twain's writing on the Grangerford-Shepherdson feud (essentially chapters 17 and 18 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), published in December 1884, is joined by his writings on the Darnell v. Watson feud. The editors place Mark Twain's writings in their historical context to illuminate the use of fact in his fictional writings. 

The Year of the Young Rebels Revisited cover
Keepsake 32 

The Year of the Young Rebels Revisited

By Stephen Spender, 1984

This publication celebrates The Bancroft Library's collection of modern literary manuscripts and presents a new text by Sir Stephen Spender. It illuminates his previous writings on the student uprisings of the 1960s, a movement that had its home on the Berkeley campus. 

The Show of Science cover
Keepsake 31 

The Show of Science

By Robin E. Rider, 1983

Rare and unique scholarly research materials, a strength of The Bancroft Library, serve as the source for this work. Four areas of scientific interest are explored: Demonstration Experiments, Ceremonies and Celebrations, Wonderful Machines, and Displays of Nature. Illustrations from historical works accompany the text. 

The Story of a Story & Three Stories cover
Keepsake 30

The Story of a Story & Three Stories

By Jessamyn West, 1982

A total of four stories are compiled in this work. "The Story of a Story" was first published in Pacific Spectator (summer 1949); "Horace Chooney, M.D.," appeared in Mademoiselle (February 1947) and subsequently in West's Love, Death, and the Ladies Drill Team (1955). "A Man like a Mule" and "Babes in the Woods" are believed to be unpublished prior to their appearance in this volume.

Wapping Alice cover
Keepsake 29

Wapping Alice

By Mark Twain, 1981

"Wapping Alice," a short story by Mark Twain, is printed here for the first time. This Keepsake also contains another of his short stories, "The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm," as well as three letters written to his wife, Olivia L. Clemens, and his autobiographical dictation of April 10, 1907.

Nine Classic California Photographers cover
Keepsake 28 

Nine Classic California Photographers

Edited by William Hively, 1980

This volume includes the work of Robert H. Vance, Carleton Emmons Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, Adam Clark Vroman, Arnold Genthe, Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, and Ansel Adams. The evolution of photography in California parallels the development of the state within the cultural and historical panorama of the United States. Images of California, including its landscapes, people, and structures, illuminate the factual and mythical place of this region in the American experience.

The Voyage of Sir Francis Drake cover
Keepsake 27

The Voyage of Sir Francis Drake

By Helen Wallis, 1979

This publication honors the 400th anniversary of the voyage of Sir Francis Drake and his visit to Nova Albion in 1579.

Telling Stories cover
Keepsake 26

Telling Stories

By Joan Didion, 1978

Joan Didion, a UC Berkeley graduate, gathers three short stories she wrote in 1964 and introduces these works with personal insights concerning the creative process of writing. Didion muses that the genesis for these works lay in the fact that her first novel had been published recently. She was "suffering a fear common among people who have just written a first novel: the fear of never writing another."

The Actor from Point Arena cover
Keepsake 25

The Actor from Point Arena

By Frederick G. Ross and edited by Travis Bogard, 1977

Frederick G. Ross (1858-1942) was an actor from Point Arena, California. Although not a featured performer, Ross worked with such notable actors as James O'Neil, Thomas W. Keene, and Edwin Booth. His memoirs and letters recount the world of the stage, and his passages on San Francisco theaters of 1878-1881 are rich in detail. 

Una and Robin cover
Keepsake 24

Una and Robin

By Mabel Dodge Luhan and edited by Mark Schorer, 1976

The author Mabel Dodge Luhan enjoyed a close friendship with Una and Robinson Jeffers. In this previously unpublished tribute to her friends, Luhan offers an intimate portrait written with the full knowledge and cooperation of the Jefferses. 

California Indian Characteristics cover
Keepsake 23 

California Indian Characteristics

By Stephen Powers with a preface by N. Scott Momaday, 1975

"California Indian Characteristics" was first published in Overland Monthly in April 1875. A second Powers essay, "Centennial Mission to the Indians of Western Nevada and California," is also reprinted here with a brief essay by Robert F. Heizer, "Stephen Powers as Anthropologist," to offer an interesting and informative perspective on nineteenth-century attitudes toward American Indians. 

Recollections of Old Times in California cover
Keepsake 22

Recollections of Old Times in California

By William Thomes and edited by George R. Stewart, 1974

William Henry Thomes was one of many subjects whose life's memories were transcribed for posterity by Hubert Howe Bancroft and his staff of interviewers. Thomes, a successful businessman, author, and entrepreneur, made several visits to California throughout the mid- to late 19th century.

Some Treasures of The Bancroft Library cover
Keepsake 21

Some Treasures of The Bancroft Library

Edited by J. R. K. Kantor, 1973

Prepared in honor of the move of The Bancroft Library to its present quarters, this volume highlights a selection of rare and unique items in such areas as California and the West, Early Printing, History of Science, Illuminated Manuscripts, Literary Manuscripts and Publications, The Mark Twain Papers, Mexico and Central America, The University of California, and Pictorial Collections.

The Great Landslide Case cover
Keepsake 20 

The Great Landslide Case

By Mark Twain and edited by Frederick Anderson and Edgar M. Branch, 1972

This volume reproduces three versions of a popular story by the noted American humorist and author, Mark Twain. The Mark Twain Papers & Project, located in The Bancroft Library, houses the largest single collection of original documents by and about Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain). The three variant stories first appeared in print in 1863, 1870, and 1872. This publication provides the opportunity to read and study the writings and re-writings of a great American author and speaker, one who carefully refined and crafted his own words and those of his characters.

A Sailor's Sketch of the Sacramento Valley in 1842 cover
Keepsake 19

A Sailor's Sketch of the Sacramento Valley in 1842

By John Yates with an introduction by Ferol Egan, 1971

With essays entitled "The Bidwell Map of 1844 of the Sacramento Valley" and "Sketch of the Sacramento Valley," this publication highlights two important documents on the mid-19th century history of the Sacramento region. 

A Visit to California in 1841 cover
Keepsake 18 

A Visit to California in 1841

An interview with Joseph B. Chiles, 1970

Joseph B. Chiles was a colorful California pioneer. He was an assiduous fiddle player, a lover of jokes and joking, a devoted hunter of grizzlies, and a notable pathfinder on the California Trail. His interview is one of the scores that Hubert Howe Bancroft collected through his agents while working on his history. It is obviously unfinished, broken off almost between sentences, but there is no indication of the reason. This Keepsake also contains an interview with one of Chiles's sons by a highly inexperienced interviewer who did not know how to spell Chiles.

The Life of George Henry Goddard cover
Keepsake 17

The Life of George Henry Goddard

By Albert Shumate, 1969

An artist, architect, surveyor, and mapmaker, George Henry Goddard was a remarkable individual. He is best known for his numerous surveying expeditions in the Sierras and for authoring Britton and Rey’s Map of the State of California, the first map of California to be based on surveys. A reproduction of this map is included in the Keepsake.

A Kid on the Comstock cover
Keepsake 16

A Kid on the Comstock

Edited by Dolores Waldorf Bryant, 1968

John Taylor Waldorf published his boyhood reminiscences of the Comstock in the San Francisco Bulletin, beginning on March 12, 1905. His final story appeared in 1924. These articles are reproduced here, with thoughtful commentary on the author and the Comstock area to guide the contemporary reader. 

Valley of Salt, Memories of Wine: Journal of the Death Valley, 1849 cover
Keepsake 15 

Valley of Salt, Memories of Wine: Journal of the Death Valley, 1849

By Louis Nusbaumer and edited by George Koenig, 1967

On their overland journey to the gold fields of California in 1849, Louis Nusbaumer and 94 others found themselves lost in a desert fastness which, because of their passage through it, would eventually be called Death Valley. Written in German script, Nusbaumer’s two pocket-sized notebooks are the only known daily record kept by a member of that ill-fated party. 

Desert Rats cover
Keepsake 14

Desert Rats

By Charles L. Camp, 1966

The term "Desert Rats" was "a proud one and not lightly bestowed. Genuine burro prospectors were self-sufficient, self-reliant men; uninhibited lovers of independence and solitude. These traits of character were accentuated in isolation. They had personal charm and usually a sardonic sense of humor." Charles L. Camp offers his remembrances of these unique Western figures in a Keepsake volume designed and printed by Lawton and Alfred Kennedy. 

Keepsake 13  GPH: An Informal Record of George P. Hammond cover
Keepsake 13

GPH: An Informal Record of George P. Hammond

By The Friends of The Bancroft Library, 1965

Prompted by the retirement of Director George P. Hammond, this volume contains a series of essays and reminiscences by several individuals with intimate knowledge of The Bancroft Library and its history. These writings illuminate Hammond's life and career and the evolution of The Bancroft Library.

A Journey to California, 1841 cover
Keepsake 12

A Journey to California, 1841

By John Bidwell with an introduction by Francis P. Farquhar, 1964

The original journal kept by Bidwell during the 1841 migration to California by wagon train was never found. The printed account later acquired by Hubert Howe Bancroft is, by Bidwell’s own statement, an abridgment. Both the facsimile of the printed version and its edited transcript are presented in this Keepsake.

Rose or Rose Thorn? cover
Keepsake 11

Rose or Rose Thorn?

By Susanna Bryant Dakin, 1963

This Keepsake contains the biographies of three women who lived during the Spanish rule of the Californias—Doña Feliciana Arballo, Doña Eulalia Fages, and Doña Concepción Argüello. 

Mexico Ancient and Modern cover
Keepsake 10

Mexico: Ancient and Modern

Introduction by James D. Hart, 1962

This catalog organizes a selection of Bancroft's extensive Mexican holdings under such topical headings as Aboriginal Annals; The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico; Spanish Institutions and the New World; Founding of the Republic; War, Revolution, and Invasion in the Era of the Republic; Empire, Republic, and Dictatorship; and The Mexico of Don Silvestre Terrazas.

The Ralston-Fry Wedding cover
Keepsake 9

The Ralston-Fry Wedding

Edited by Francis P. Farquhar, 1961

This publication reproduces an account of a wedding and the wedding journey to Yosemite on May 20, 1858. The original text is found in the diary of Miss Sarah Haight (Mrs. Edward Tompkins).

American Image of Spanish California cover
Keepsake 8

American Images of Spanish California

By James D. Hart, 1960

First delivered in 1959 as the Charles Mills Gayley Lecture, sponsored by the UC Berkeley Department of English, this lecture offers a review of the literary images of California's transition from Spanish and Mexican domination to that of "American domination."

Stockton Boyhood cover
Keepsake 7

Stockton Boyhood

By Carl Ewald Grunsky and edited by Clotilde C. Taylor, 1959

These essays were written from 1925 to 1934 and document the life of Carl Ewald Grunsky, a graduate of the first class of Stockton High School in 1870. Grunsky later became a distinguished engineer; his career included service as the first City Engineer in San Francisco and as a member of the first Isthmian Canal Commission appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt.

The Mariposa Indian War, 1850-1851: Diaries of Robert Eccleston cover
Keepsake 6

The Mariposa Indian War, 1850-1851: Diaries of Robert Eccleston

Edited by C. Gregory Crampton, 1957

This is the second published volume of the diaries of Robert Eccleston. The first appeared under the title Overland to California on the Southwestern Trail, 1849. Like many participants in the Gold Rush, Robert Eccleston kept an excellent record of the journey to California only to break it off on arrival, December 28, 1849. After ten months in California, however, he returned to his diary to record his experiences in the Southern Mines during the years 1850 and 1851, centering on a war provoked when the miners intruded upon Indian lands.

Ramblings in California: The Adventure of Henry Cerruti cover
Keepsake 5

Ramblings in California: The Adventure of Henry Cerruti

Edited by Margaret Mollins and Virginia Thickens, 1954

At Hubert Howe Bancroft’s request, Henry Cerruti began his account on October 6, 1874. Originally he had intended to describe his adventures in the Sonoma valley, but as his travels took him to different parts of the state, these too were added. In his work, Cerruti faithfully recorded his conversations with the pioneers, omitting only those which he wrote up at greater length for Bancroft's use. For this Keepsake, several Spanish passages that Cerruti included in his manuscript have been translated into English, and because Cerruti wrote spontaneously with little thought of formal organization, the text has been paragraphed and divided into chapters. The original manuscript is held by The Bancroft Library.

The Opening of the California Trail cover
Keepsake 4

The Opening of the California Trail

Edited by George R. Stewart, 1953

This Keepsake recounts the story of the Stevens Party from the reminiscences of Moses Schallenberger, as set down for Hubert Howe Bancroft circa 1885. The Stevens Party set out for the Pacific Coast in the spring of 1844 and opened the first wagon road to California. This intrepid group is also credited with the discovery of Donner Pass.

A Description of California in 1828 cover
Keepsake 3

A Description of California in 1828

By José Bandini and translated by Doris Marion Wright, 1951

The original document consists of nineteen manuscript pages, written in the distinctive handwriting of José Bandini. It is undated, and unsigned except for the initials "J.B." The manuscript probably came to the University of California with the Cowan Collection in 1897, where it remained almost unnoticed among the treasures of The Bancroft Library. With this Keepsake, Bancroft is glad to bring this remarkable document to the attention of scholars. Both the original version and an English translation are provided.

Overland to California on the Southwestern Trail, 1849: Diary of Robert Eccleston cover
Keepsake 2

Overland to California on the Southwestern Trail, 1849: Diary of Robert Eccleston

Edited by George P. Hammond and Edward H. Howes, 1950

Word of the California gold discoveries had reached the East during the summer of 1848, and the news was confirmed in President James K. Polk’s annual message to Congress in December of that year. At once, thousands of men seized the first opportunity to head west for the reputed easy riches. Robert Eccleston distinguished himself among them by keeping a painstaking record of the trip from Texas to California. His journal is especially interesting as a record of the opening of two sections of the great Southwestern Trail—the Lower Road from San Antonio to El Paso and the cut-off from the Burro Mountains in New Mexico to Tucson—as well as for its description of the entire nine-month journey to the Pacific Coast.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo cover
Keepsake 1 

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848

Edited by George P. Hammond, 1949

This Keepsake, published in a convenient form with an explanatory accompaniment and map, is a boon to all California residents who have any degree of curiosity about the origins of their laws, their land titles, and many other aspects of their citizenship. This publication is the first to appear under the sponsorship of the Friends of The Bancroft Library.