Beschreibung:

Title: The Mariposa Company, 34 Wall Street, New York. James Hoy, President... Organized 25th June, 1863 Author: ** Place: New York Publisher: Wm. C. Bryant & Co., printers Date: 1863 Description: 81 pp. Large colored lithograph folding map. (8vo) 23x14.5 cm. (9x5¾"), original brown cloth, covers bordered in blind, front cover lettered in gilt. Housed in a custom red morocco and cloth drop-back box. First Edition. Elaborate prospectus for the mining property known as the Mariposa Estate. The Mariposas scheme was the brainchild of John C. Fremont, who saw it as the making of his fortune, but who was ultimately bankrupted by it. In January 1863, Fremont, then a Major-General in the Union Army, sold Rancho Las Mariposas with its mines and infrastructure to Morris Ketchum a New York City banker, who formed a public corporation, the Mariposa Company, and sold stock. In 1863, Frederick Law Olmsted, noted New York landscape architect, came to Mariposa as superintendent for the Mariposa Company. Olmsted was not a mining expert. Investments were made in stamp mills, tunnels, shafts, and the other infrastructure related to the mining towns. By 1865, the Mariposa Company was bankrupt, Olmsted returned to New York, and mines were sold at a sheriff's sale. Cowan, p.414. Lot Amendments Condition: Spine ends chipped, front joint splitting at top; map with a crease to one panel, a short stub tear, splitting at two folds, and with small separations at the intersections of horizontal and vertical folds; very good in a fine custom box. Item number: 232795