Rare Early Promotional Tract For The City of Vallejo
Rare early pamphlet and maps on the prospects of the "up-bay" city of Vallejo, initially published by the local newspaper and later issued as a separate pamphlet.
The two folding maps are
- San Francisco and San Pablo Bays from chart No. 22 in Coast Survey Report of 1865... Scale 3/8" to a mile (16 x 10 inches)
- Map of California Pacific Railroad showing its relative position to other railroads... Scale 12 miles to 1 inch (12, 8.5 inches).
Howes calls for a preliminary leaf (which Warren Heckrotte speculates was possibly a title-page) and three ad pages (not present here).
San Francisco and San Pablo Bays from chart No. 22 in Coast Survey Report of 1865
The first map provides an excellent early overview of Vallejo's location at the mouth of the Napa River, including soundings. Published by Britton & Rey, the map focuses on the navigable portions of the Bay and environs, with emphasis on the marsh and tidelands, differentiating between the the low and highwater marks. It also locates towns and major topographical features, such as Mount Tamalpais and the San Bars outside the entrance to San Francisco Bay.
This map is apparently very rare. We have never seen another example of this map on the market.
Map of California Pacific Railroad showing its relative position to other railroads
The present map is one of three variant editions of the map and would seem to be the last of the three, most notable for its addition of a railroad line from Sonoma to Petaluma.
The California Pacific Railroad Company was incorporated in 1865 in San Francisco as the California Pacific Rail Road Company. It was renamed the California Pacific Railroad Extension Company in the spring of 1869, then renamed the California Pacific Railroad later that same year. The railroad was constructed just months prior to the completion of the Central Pacific/Union Pacific Transcontinental Railway.
The line was originally built by D.C. Haskin. The present example of the map would seem to be a late state of the map, published after the sale of the Railroad by Haskin to investors led by former California Governor and Senator Milton Slocum Latham (January 15, 1870). Below are links to two other earlier variant states:
- First State: https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/20829
- Second State: https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/42556
All states of the map are rare, to the point of being virtually unknown. We note an example of State 1 at the Boston Public Library. The Bancroft Library also holds a variant of the Britton & Rey imprint, which it dates to circa 1875, with significantly reworked railroad lines and a terminus of the CPRR at Saucelito and showing only the area to just east of Sacramento, cutting off about 2 inches of the earlier states of the map.
Rarity and Provenance
This is the first appearance of the pamphlet on the market since this same example was purchased by Warren Heckrotte at the Sothebys sale in 1982. Prior to 1982, the only example offered in the past 60 years was the Streeter copy (sold for $90.00), lacking one the San Francisco and San Pablo Bay Map.
Provenance: Warren Heckrotte (purchased at Heckrotte Sale II, December 2015). Purchased by Heckrotte at Sothebys, April 28, 1982 ($192.00).