ANNUAL REPORT Of The INSPECTORS Of STATE PRISON, To The LEGISLATURE Of The STATE Of CALIFORNIA, February 15, 1855.; Document No. 13. In Senate. Session 1855.
[Sacramento CA]: B. B. Redding, State Printer. [1855]. 1st edition. Not in Cowan, nor Greenwood. 54, [2] pp. "Register and Descriptive List of Convicts under Sentence": pp. 12 - 35 [beginning with 1851]; "Transcript of Received, Escaped, and Returned Prisoners since the Inspection of State Prison Books": pp, 38 - 40. Last leaf blank. 8vo. 23.5 cm x 14 cm. Bound in later blue-grey paper wrappers. Now housed in a clear archival mylar sleeve. Overall VG+ (a faint qtr-circle stain to upper left of text paper/'San Quentin Prison / -- 1855 --" written diagonally to lower half of front wrapper). Ex-lib, with 2 small stamps to t.p. & a lightly penciled purchase annotation in the gutter after the 1st leaf [10 Nov 61 JR $10.00]. Item #20582
This an interesting factual account regarding the early days of the prison, an era when it wasn't quite impregnable edifice that now stands; in 1854, 75 of 520 incarcerated individuals had escaped without recapture. This situation caused Governor John Bigler to write: "Gentlemen: Having learned from various reliable sources that quite a number of escapes have recently occurred from the State Prison, which, to some extent is in your charge, I deem it my duty respectfully to invite your attention to the section of the law regulating your duties... These escapes, permit me here to remark, give great force to allegations, daily and publicly made, that the prison building is insecure, and that its management is not such as to fully accomplish the object of its erection, in prevention and punishment of crime." However, since the place is still going strong, one can be reasonably confident the governor's concerns were addressed.... Rare; Not in Cowan, Greenwood nor Rocq. Not in the LoC on-line catalogue. OCLC & Melvyl record but one copy [UCSB] & no copies have been at auction these last 25+ years. No other copies currently offered via the on-line matching services.
Price: $750.00