The World's Great and Eccentric Characters, Their Lives and Their Deeds, Representing All Ages and All Countries. Comprising Heroes, Conquerors, Statesmen, Authors, Artists, Humorists, Misers, Mountebanks, Kings, Queens, Jugglers, Etc., Etc., and Other C…

767 pp. 8vo. Original full calf, black leather spine label, gilt titles & rules, marbled endpapers, pink endpapers. A collection of short biographical pieces on important figures from various walks of life - from heads of state to famous authors, poets, and philosophers. Particularly interesting as a fairly early example of printed material from San Francisco (the earliest newspapers and pamphlets date to the 1840s, produced by those who followed the early gold prospectors). Frontispiece of Sam. Johnson (appropriately), numerous engravings throughout.