Leavitt's Farmer's Almanack; and miscellaneous Year Book, for the Year of Our Lord 1853: ... Containing a New Map of California ["Mining Region of California", 1852, G. W. Boynton, engraver] [Almanac number 57 1853]

Boston: Edward Livermore, 1852. First Edition, 1st Printing. Sewn binding. Very Good. [7.75x5in, 19.6x12.5cm] 48 pp. (including wrappers), advertisement on recto and verso of back wrapper, oval illustration on front wrapper of farm house and land, map of California [page 38, 6.5x3.375in neatline, 7.5x4.75in sheet, meridian of Washington City], many charts and tables with vignettes of New England scenes; Thin printed paper wrappers with black ink lettering with three point and cross sewn binding including a 'hanging string loop', edges trimmed; Light soiling, age-toning and small stain spots to covers and text, small creases to upper corners, a few prior owner pencil marks. Almanacs were not made to last 170 years and this is a remarkable very gently used almanac that has survived well in very good condition with all pages and sewn binding. Very scarce in this condition (WorldCat shows eight library holdings. RBH listed four auction sales from 1948 with the latest in 1979) [Wheat Maps 212]. Dudley Leavitt (1772-1851) was a New England publisher of newspapers and text books and was well known for his series of Farmer's Almanacs started in 1797. He was also a polymath scholar and lecturer in mathematics, language and astronomy. In this 1853 Almanac, there is a tribute to Leavitt's works and noted that Leavitt, on his death, had already drafted manuscripts for almanacs to 1857 and projected tables to 1899.

The "New Map of California" was created for this almanac by George W. Boynton (1809-1884) a well known artist, illustrator, engraver and inventor. He is best known for engraving detailed city maps and various maps of Bradford's 'National Atlas'. This map also includes the early name for Lake Tahoe of 'Lake Bonpland'. Lake Tahoe was referred to by many names from early Spanish 'Mountain Lake', Lake Bigler, Fremont's Lake and others. It was renamed 'Lake Bonpland' by Charles Preuss after Aime Bonpland, a French Botanist and explorer of South America in the famous Fremont map of the Oregon - California and the West. In 1870, it was officially named 'Lake Bigler' for John Bigler, governor of California 1852-56. As a secessionist, the name was unpopular and the native american name of Lake Taheo ('big water') was commonly used and official in 1945.

This map is part of California that details the mining regions from Mariposa County to Shasta County, with Sacramento and Sutter's Fort centered on the map. In Leavitt's introduction, he notes "the tide of emigration has been so great from the New England States to the shores of the Pacific that ... scarcely a family in our midst ... is represented by ... its members or relatives in the golden region. We have judged ... to insert ... a new, correct and reliable map of California, drawn and engraved expressly for this work, showing the principal cities and towns, distances between ... by the scale on the map, and trust it may be of service to many." The map is detailed with rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, county boundaries, major roads, the cities, towns and foothill mining settlements. This became a handy map to entice New Englanders to join the California gold rush or track the movement of friends and relatives.

The map information was from earlier government surveys. The early 1850's mining settlements or names of physical places or features were in constant change (shows Lake Tahoe as Bonpland Lake). The eight noted cities and towns described are San Francisco (principal port of entry), Sacramento City ('grand depot for the ... northern mining district'), Stockton ('great depot for all the southern mines...'), Vallejo (State Capital in 1852), Benicia (entrance to Suisun Bay and Sacramento river, 'navy station and arsenal'), San Jose (agriculture and climate), Marysville ('on the Yuba river at highest point of navigation'), and Mariposa City ('on the Mariposa river... first vein mine with machinery for crushing ore').