Raynors HCA 2016-06
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/17/2016
Pictorial letter sheet, “MINERS' TEN COMMANDMENTS,” San Francisco, Britton & Rey, n.d., circa 1852, 8-1/4” x 10-1/2,” on white lined paper. With the blank conjugate leaf attached. Small closed tear in upper inner corner. Old dampstains. Trimmed a bit close at the bottom and top edges, shaving a bit of the "19" in the upper outer corner (as usual). A scarce California pictorial letter sheet, putting a spin on the popular motif of the "miner's ten commandments." The theme was popularized by James Mason Hutchings, who published several letter sheets in the same vein. The present letter sheet contains a new version of the "ten commandments," advising miners (in a gently satirical tone) of how they should behave in the mining camps, so far from their homes and from civilization. A preamble by "Cadez Orion" of eight verses adds the story of "Uncle Zenas," formerly of Maine but gone to the gold fields to make his fortune. The upper quarter of this sheet carries a trio of images, dominated in the center by an elephant, a recurring image in Gold Rush iconography. Standing atop the elephant is a man, sun rays emanating from his head, holding a shovel in one hand and two tablets bearing the commandments in the other. On the left is an image of a miner washing his clothes in a stream, while on the right a miner cooks over an outdoor fire. This letter sheet is number 19 in the Britton & Rey numbered series.
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