This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/7/2024
[LITHOGRAPHY]. Ten Original Lithographed Leaves from the Exceedingly Rare “Wm T. Coleman & Co’s Exhibit of Californian Products Showing Location of Industries” Marketing Booklet. [Boston: Bufford (?),] 1886. Front and rear wrappers and eight internal leaves advertising Coleman’s various business enterprises (out of a total of 16 internal leaves). Wrappers printed on both sides on thin cloth over cardstock, internal leaves printed on textured paper. Approximately 13 ¾ x 10 ½” (wrappers trimmed a bit smaller). Colors are generally vibrant. Wrappers worn, soiled, chipped, internal leaves a bit toned, some mild wear, creasing. Very good. These wrappers and leaves are incredibly rare; only three copies of this booklet are thought to exist in various states of completeness (none are listed on WorldCat). William T. Coleman (1824-1893) was a Kentuckian who worked in various places, gaining an enormous appetite for entrepreneurship. When he moved to California in 1849 to work the gold fields, he discovered that selling tools to other miners was far more profitable than mining. He established his mercantile business in Sacramento; in order to grow his successful business more, he moved to San Francisco. His boundless energy and resourcefulness gained him enormous fortune, and he eventually owned and operated several different businesses, including shipping, agriculture, fishing, mining, and more (he also established the Vigilance Committee of San Francisco to combat the local rampant crime). This booklet (it is unknown who actually printed it, however Bufford is a possibility) was designed to announce to the public his huge success and his consolidation of his various businesses under a single banner. These leaves are offered with The Ephemera Journal, Volume 25, Number 2 in which this magnificent booklet’s history is described by Mark Rucker. Included are Rucker’s photocopied images used to illustrate this article. Also included is a biography of Coleman, “The Lion of the Vigilantes” William T. Coleman by James A. B. Scherer (1939, The Bobbs-Merrill Company); early reprint in jacket). A superb lot. From the Mark Rucker Collection.