Report of Hon. T. Butler King, on California.
T. Butler King
Washington D.C., 1850
 
Second edition. Publisher’s original wrappers, including the errata slip. Spine and edges chipped, tear to front wrap along half its length, New Bedford library stamps on cover and interior. Pages quite clean, a Good copy.
 
Ordinarily, an overlookable book but look again as this one has a very cool provenance. Presentation copy to possibly the original recipient of the iconic advice to make a life in the burgeoning part of our young nation.
 
Compiled by the Customs Collector of San Francisco(King), this report relayed the first official information about the gold strike to the federal government. The recipient of this copy, Josiah Grinnell, started life in Vermont and New York before finding his way to Iowa. He was a steadfast abolitionist, and once helped John Brown move freed slaves on the Underground Railroad to Canada. 
 
Intriguingly, Grinnell, was the target of the iconic advice to “Go west, young man,” by another abolitionist and liberal lion of the time, Horace Greeley – the one generally credited with coining the phrase. The exact origin of the phrase, and the wording of itself to Grinnell remains in some dispute - later in life he contended that Greeley actually told him, “Go west, this is not the place for a young man,” in reference to “religious enthusiasm” in New York. Whatever the case, Grinnell heeded the advice and is forever connected to the classic American phrase. 
 
A super-cool provenance for all history nerds.