California pictorial letter sheet, "The Miner's Ten Commandments" with 1854 manuscript letter

Printed letter sheet on blue, 11.25" x 9.25", with integral leaf attached and one page manuscript letter from the mining community of Clinton, California, dated October 4, 1854. Creasing at folds, some toning and spotting, chipping at edges. Printed text and images clear and legible.

The most popular of the Gold Rush letter sheets, produced by James Mason Hutchings, in its first state with the apostrophized "MINER'S" in title. A well known satire and visual depiction of forty-niner life, usually found blank and unsent, with a brief but vivid manuscript letter sent from one of the placer mining towns in present-day Amador County, California.

Kruska, James Mason Hutchings of Yo Semite 1a. Baird, California Pictorial Letter Sheet 167. Clifford Letter Sheet Collection 180. Graff 2028. All (California) 248. Greenwood, Appendix A, 75.