ZAMORANO SELECT ZS the zamorano club los angeles 2010 Copyright 2010, The Zamorano Club Frontispiece from Joseph LeConte, A Journal of Ramblings through the High Sierras of California (item 64). Photo credits: Items 63 and 66: private collection All others: The Huntington Library, San Marino, California Sponsors Patricia Adler-Ingram Larry L. Meyer Susan M. Allen J. David Rips Charlotte G. Burgess William N. Rogers II Larry E. Burgess Jerome R. Selmer John C. Carson, M.D. Michael Sharpe Glen Dawson Gary E. Strong William G. Donohoo Michael R. Thompson Robert M. Ebiner Gordon J. Van De Water John M. Fickewirth William J. Warren Michael A. Gallucci Msgr. Francis J. Weber Roger Gozdecki David R. Gunther The Huntington Library David Hirst Occidental College K. Garth Huston, Jr., M.D. Pepperdine University Libraries Stephen A. Kanter, M.D. A.K. Smiley Public Library Kenneth Karmiole University of Southern California Gary F. Kurutz Libraries Marcus A. McCorison Contents Foreword: Larry E. Burgess 7 Introduction: Gary F. Kurutz 10 Zamorano Select 19 Index 160 Foreword The decision by the Zamorano Club of Los Angeles to produce a new bib- liography of works on California’s diverse history and fiction has its own compelling story. The idea of publishing a companion list to the “sacred” Zamorano 80 had daunted Club members for years. At times there would be talk during the monthly meetings about undertaking such a project. After the rush of wine and the effects of dinner had settled in, attention turned to the speaker, pushing thoughts of a new bibliography far away. After a discussion in January 2006, past Zamorano Club president Tom Andrews sent a confidential memorandum to selected discussants sug- gesting possible titles and a way to begin the project. By March the Board of Governors, led by new president Judy Harvey Sahak, authorized Tom Andrews as Chair to start the project along with nine Club members— mostly those who had mused about a new list and were now called upon to act. The newly appointed committee included Larry Burgess, William Donohoo, Gordon J. Van De Water, Alan Jutzi, Stephen Kanter, Victoria Dailey, Doyce Nunis, Jr., Charles Goldsmid, and Francis Weber. All were Club members, collectors of Californiana, and writers of California his- tory; some were professional historians. These ten began to deliberate at the committee’s first meeting on March 31, 2006. The committee resolved at the outset that the list should include both history and fiction. They recognized that there would be a pre- ponderance of titles related to Southern California. Members began to present their lists, which were compared and contrasted with selections that had launched the first discussion. In the process they refined the criteria for inclusion. They unanimously agreed that the chronological scope should commence with 1870, the first full year of the operation of the transcontinental railroad. This would complement the majority of selections in The Zamorano 80, which focused on the Spanish, Mexican, and early statehood periods. The selectors recognized that early voyages and the Gold Rush had excellent existing bibliographies, while post- 1870 California had been less studied. The cutoff date was set at 1980 7 to preserve historical detachment, though some exceptions were made later. After some spirited interchanges, bibliographies were admitted. Another vote that sparked some dissent disqualified some extremely rare books locked away in a handful of repositories and accessible mainly to specialists. It became apparent to the committee that they should seek a selection that would appeal alike to the sophisticated collector, the interested reader, and students who might be seeking “cornerstone books” about California’s history and the illusory “California Dream.” The committee ultimately discussed more than 500 titles during a year and a half of selecting, but the hardest part was grappling with what came to be called “The Big List” of nearly 300 titles. Like most ambitious volunteer projects, this one suffered attrition of members due to competing personal and professional commitments. Committee Chair Tom Andrews resigned in June 2006 and was replaced by Larry Burgess. The departure of other members several times rocked the committee’s confidence in its ability to carry on, for the members had agreed to share responsibility for writing the entries. On the plus side, Bill Donohoo provided a major boost to the effort when he agreed to create master lists for review. This was a vitally important and sin- gularly complex endeavor. Alan Jutzi’s hosting of the meetings at The Huntington well served the members’ commuter needs and provided access to nearly all the books under discussion. As should be pointed out, Zamorano legend has it that some of the original Zamorano 80 com- mittee members barely spoke to each other during the completion of the project and even after. While the new committee had its share of sharp interchanges, all the participants remained cordial at the project’s conclusion. In the fall of 2007 the committee began to vote on the final list, agreeing that any book with four votes among the then five members should be included. The task of writing the descriptions began a year later, with the final four members taking responsibility for their respec- tive favorites and dividing up the others. Being mindful that some of the titles were advocated with expertise and effective presentations by former members, we hope we have done well by them and all of the members of the Zamorano Club. We are grateful to Gary Kurutz—distinguished author, librarian, bibliographer, collector of Western Americana and Californiana, raconteur, and corre- sponding Zamorano Club member—for contributing his Introduction. 8 The Committee expresses its appreciation to the Governors and mem- bers of the Zamorano Club for backing and encouraging this publica- tion. We thank past president Judy Harvey Sahak (under whose guidance the project was proposed), Michael Gallucci and Patricia Adler-Ingram (who as presidents continued Club support), and Laura Stalker, presi- dent in 2009-10, who saw the manuscript completed. We owe apprecia- tion to Susan Allen and Stephen Tabor for seeking a printer and bids for the book’s publication. We also thank the generous donors who helped underwrite the publication costs. Gordon J. Van De Water rendered great assistance in reading and commenting on all of the essays. He recruited his long-time friend William N. Rogers II, a retired professor of English at San Diego State University, to bring his copy-editing and stylistic skills to bear on a substantial number of the entries. Nathan D. Gonzales gave much time to proofreading the entries and putting all into bibliographic consistency. In a sense he became the unofficial fifth member. Janice Jones at the Smiley Library provided office support and kept tabs on all the revisions. In works of this nature errors may be pres- ent, and the committee accepts the final responsibility for these hope- fully few instances. We trust that this book will serve diverse interests and a wide read- ership seeking knowledge about California’s history and culture. We believe that its readers will find the selections enticing and the reading of them satisfying. Larry E. Burgess, Chairman William G. Donohoo Alan Jutzi Gordon J. Van De Water 9 Introduction The Zamorano 80, that noteworthy compilation of great California books, has achieved legendary status and ranks as one of the most famous bibli- ographies in the entire field of Americana. Its creation back in the 1940s inspired healthy debate over which titles to include. Any time a vast body of literature such as California history is boiled down to a select few titles, emotions will surface. Ever since its publication, The Zamorano 80 has served as a goal for the astute collector and as an inspiring guide of what a solid collection of Californiana should include. Homer D. Crotty, in the introduction to the first edition, beautifully summed up the value of this list with its superb annotations. “Our emphasis,” he wrote, “has been on distinguished books, not on books of great rarity. We have kept in mind in our selection those books which we believe should be cornerstones of any real collection of Californiana. In the choice of our eighty titles we are convinced that each one is distinguished in the field of Californiana.” As the decades passed, Club members saw the need to offer an updated compilation to reflect new perspectives and new scholarship. Back issues of the Club’s quarterly newsletter Hoja Volante are replete with friendly debates over titles, inclusion dates, and genres such as ephemera, county histories, periodicals, and pictorial works. Lists were submitted. Despite the best intentions, consensus could not be reached, and that elusive goal of an updated bibliography of distinguished Cali- forniana was never achieved until now. While members ruminated, The Zamorano 80 continued to have a life of its own. Virtually every important bibliography or antiquarian book- seller’s catalog dealing with Western Americana cited this list of great books. Reflecting its importance and rarity, the Club gave the Kraus Reprint Company permission to publish a facsimile edition in 1969 to celebrate California’s Bicentennial. In 1986 the Henry E. Huntington Library hosted a joint meeting of the Zamorano and Roxburghe Clubs, 10 and the highlight was an exhibition of the complete Zamorano 80 in first editions drawn from the fabulous collections of the Huntington and of Zamorano Club member Henry H. Clifford. It should be mentioned here that Clifford had scaled that “Mt. Everest” of collecting by acquiring all titles in first edition. To celebrate this gathering of great books, the Hun- tington issued an exhibition catalog. No doubt reflecting the emotions that high-spot lists provoke, the catalog came with a curious subtitle: “An Annotated Check List Occasioned by the Exhibition of Famous and Notorious California Classics.” Perhaps the word “notorious” referred to the Joaquin Murieta, one of the titles that generated the most heated discussion over the years.