LB.31.c.3059

Imprint: New York: Julius Bien. 1870.

Half-leather quarto, green buckram boards, measuring 315 x 255 mm, pp. viii, 150, frontispiece and 29 leaves of plates at end. In the introduction Hayden, Professor of Mineralogy and Geology at the University of Pennsylvania, writes that, 'For several years past, during various expeditions to the territories west of the Mississippi River, I have earnestly desired to present to the world some of the remarkable scenery of the Rocky Mountain region, through the medium of photography, as the nearest approach to a truthful delineation of nature. The construction of the Pacific Railroad led to the production of a large number of fine photographic views, taken by Mr. A. J. Russell, of New York, who spent more than two years along the line in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. Thirty views have been chosen, and the preference has been given, in most cases, to those which illustrate some peculiar feature in the geology or geography of that interesting country. The pictures have been arranged so as to commence with the first range of mountains west of Cheyenne, and to continue thence to Salt Lake Valley, with the view, that the book may be used as a guide to those who will avail themselves of the grand opportunities for geological study, , which a trip across the continent affords to every intelligent mind ... The photographs I have selected to illustrate the peculiar surface features, given to the country by different geological formations. Thus, photographs II, III and IV exhibit the style of weathering peculiar to the granites of the first range of mountains; V, the Triassic sandstones; VI, is a mountain prairie view; VII, shows a distant view of one of the lofty ranges of mountains with the perpetual snow on its summits, while in the foreground the dense forests of pine and soruce are well brought out. Two views from the Central pacific Railroad (at the close of the book) afford the reader a glimpse of the wonderful scenery of the Sierra Nevada and the Pacific coast...'