Old Tales of San Francisco

by Arthur Chandler

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 084034385X
• ISBN13: 9780840343857
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Early Writing from Frontier-Era San Francisco w/some Well-Known Authors

From Preface: "'Old Tales of San Francisco' gathers together some of the best writing from and about the City of Saint Francis form the last decades of the 18th through the first years of the 20th century. San Francisco's literary heritage is rich, but elusive and scattered. Much of the highest quality and most revealing writing about San Francisco is out of print, buried in long-forgotten journals and books, or else available only in expensive, limited edition reprints. What this book contains is only a sampling of the abundant treasures that lie buried in books, papers, and microfilms of San Francisco's libraries. If you enjoy what you find here, and are led to search out and read works like Father Maria's diary, Bayard Taylor's 'El Dorado', or Gelett Burgess' 'The Heart Line,' then 'Old Tales of San Francisco' has done its job. The material in this book is divided into three main historical areas: 1775-1848 (founding years to gold rush); 1849 -1869 (gold rush to the completion of transcontinental railroad), and 1870 - 1906 (railroad to the fire and earthquake of 1906). To help the reader envision the context of the works, each selection begins with a brief historical sketch of San Francisco during the years when the works appeared. Each author's work or works is then introduced by a modest preface that should give each selection a biographical context." Sample Contents include: * from 'The Diary of Father Santa Maria' * form 'A Voyage of Discovery' by Otto von Kotzebue * From the Diaries of Chamisso and Choris * From 'Two Years Before the Mast' - Richard Henry Dana * From 'Reminiscences and Incidents of 'The Early Days' of San Francisco by John Henry Brown * From 'Filings from an Old Saw' by Joseph Downey * Selections from the 'California Star' * From 'The Annals of San Francisco' by Frank Soule, John Nesbit & John Gihon * From 'California Adventure' by Vincente Perez Rosales * From 'Last Adventure' by Albert Bernard de Russailh * From 'El Dorado, or Adventures in the Path of Empire' by Bayard Taylor * From 'Pen-Knife Sketches, or Chips of the Old Block' by Alonzo Delano * From 'Prentice Mulford's Story' * From 'The Dame Shirley Letters' by Louise Clappe * 'The Luck of Roaring Camp,' 'To the Cliff House', and "San Francisco from the Sea' by Bret Harte * Five Sketches by Mark Twain - 'The Pioneer Ball', 'The great prize fight.' and 'Early Rising', 'The Great Quake of '65,' and 'Earthquake Almanac.' * Six Proclamations by Emperor Norton * 'California' by Ina Coolbrith * 'The Man and the Snake' and 'Prattle' by Ambrose Bierce * From 'American Notes' by Rudyard Kipling, 'Rudyard Kipling at the Golden Gare' * A Raid on the Oyster Pirates' by Jack London * From 'Polk Street,' 'The Passing of Little Pete,' and 'Among Cliff Dwellers' by Frank Norris * From 'Lights and Shades of San Francisco' by B.E. Lloyd * From 'Love Sonnets of a Hoodlum' by Wallace Irwin * 'The Bohemians,' 'Ballad of the Hyde Street Grip,' and 'Architectural Shams' b

Great stories of San Francisco

If you like learning about different cities histories and how they have developed into the successful city that they have become today, this is a book for you. This book definately helps the reader understand the history of San Francisco and how it became a great city with many different componets. A city with excellent artist, journalist and even what the locals think the city is all about. This city in the autors words is a city with class. I really truly believe this after reading this book. However there isn't much direct wording from the author. He just gives you stories from other journals or writers that help you understand how this great city came about. This is a great book one should read it.