Mountains and Molehills
Maker
Frank Marryat
Date1855
Object number00016962
NameBook
MediumCloth, gilt, Ink on paper
DimensionsOverall: 200 x 125 x 25 mm, 0.4 kg
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection
Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionA book by Frank Marryat titled 'Mountains and Molehills or recollections of a Burnt Journal - a sportsman / tourist's chronicle of California in the early 1850s: hunting, horse races, bear and bull fights, and an Englishman's bemused comments on social life in San Francisco, Stockton, and the gold fields.' Harper & Brothers, New York.
The book is a narrative of life at the California diggings, big game hunting in the Rocky Mountains, and life in the pioneer West. Reliable observations are also included on early legal and political affairs in California, such as material on the Vigilance Committee and other attempts to impose order on the growing population, descriptions of life at the mines and of conditions at San Francisco and the ranches in the 1850's.
Frank Marryat was also the author of an earlier book of experiences titled 'Borneo and the Eastern Archipelago', 1848.HistoryFrank Marryat was the son of Captain Frederick Marryat, known for his maritime flag signalling system 'Marryat's Code' and author of the children's classic novel 'The Children of the New Forrest'. Like his father Frank Marryat served in the Royal Navy but left after eight years at the age of 22. In 1848 he published 'Borneo and the Eastern Archipelago' which was a compilation of a number of drawings he had made during his service on HMS SAMARANG in 1843 and text from his own and his colleagues' journals.
On 4 May 1850 Marryat arrived in California "with a manservant and three hunting dogs" looking for adventure and experiences to fill another travel book. He found plenty of both with San Francisco booming with thousands of arrivals heading to the Californian goldfields. Marryat also heads north to the goldfields recording as he goes the characters and hectic scenes he encounters along the way. These include the diggings themselves and record the drinking, gambling, lawlessness and the lynching of the gun law society.
Marryat returned to England in 1853 suffering from the effects of yellow fever. On his return to England Marryat married and wrote his book 'Mountains and Molehills' from his own recollections of his 'burnt journal' which was published in 1855. He had planned on returning to California but his health deteriorated from yellow fever and he died in England that same year.
SignificanceFrank Marryat's book 'Mountains and Molehills' and illustrations was an honest account of the way people in San Francisco were living their lives during the gold rush of the early 1850's. He describes the saloons, dance halls, theatres and daily life of a unique period in history.
1844 - 1865