Product Details

TYLER, Sydney. San Francisco's Great Disaster: A Full Account of the Recent Terrible Destruction of Life and Property by Earthquake, Fire and Volcano in California and at Vesuvius, and a Brief Account of Ancient and Modern Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions in All Parts of the World. With a chapter on the causes of earthquakes, growing mountains, and volcanoes by Ralph Stockman Tarr. Harrisburg, Pa.: The Minter Company, 1906. First edition, Minter Company issue. 8vo. 424 pp. Illustrated throughout. Publisher's blue-gray pictorial cloth, elaborately stamped in black and red with dramatic scenes of buildings engulfed in flames and volcanic eruption to front board and spine; decorative patterned endpapers. A contemporary illustrated account of the catastrophic San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906, published in the same year as the disaster. Tyler chronicles the earthquake and the devastating fires that followed, the destruction of the city, loss of life and property, relief efforts, and the experiences of survivors. Extensively illustrated, the volume provides a striking visual record of San Francisco and the destruction wrought by one of the most consequential natural disasters in American history. The work also treats the nearly simultaneous 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius and surveys notable earthquakes and volcanic eruptions throughout history. An additional chapter by noted Cornell geologist Ralph Stockman Tarr, formerly of the United States Geological Survey, discusses the geological causes of earthquakes, mountain formation, and volcanic activity. An excellent example of the contemporary illustrated "disaster book," a genre produced in the immediate aftermath of major catastrophes for an American public eager for detailed accounts and photographic documentation. The particularly striking publisher's binding, with its bright red-and-black scenes of a city in flames and volcanic eruption, gives the volume considerable visual appeal. Condition: Very Good or better. Publisher's blue-gray pictorial cloth remains clean and bright, with vivid black and red stamping to the front board and spine. Light wear at spine ends and corners, otherwise very well preserved. Binding sound and interior clean. Bleitz Family gift label affixed to front pastedown. An attractive, unusually fresh copy.