J. Howard Jim Campbell is well known for his illustrations of U.S. Sailing ships and other nautical illustrations. He also fell in love with a nineteenth century mining town, New Almaden, and had a long-lasting friendship with Constance Perham, the founder of the Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum. Jim illustrated the workings of the quicksilver mine and the residents of New Almaden in the style of Mary Hallock Foote. He shared his pen and ink drawings with Connie and she drafted much of the language that accompanies these illustrations. Jim now shares his drawings with us in the book From Cinnabar to Quicksilver. This collection of pen-and-ink sketches of the historic New Almaden quicksilver mines is now available to all of us. The accompanying text presents the history of this mine, the largest and richest in California. This is a perfect book to relax and enjoy some of the little known history of Almaden Valley in California.

Before Terlingua achieved some notoriety as the site of the annual World Championship Chili Cookoff, the ghost town was the bustling center of the mercury mining industry in the United States. Quicksilver tells the story of the company town and its feudal lord, Chicago industrialist Howard E. Perry, who built a hilltop mansion overlooking the dry domain. Based on many primary sources, this solidly researched and historically sound book tells of profit, power, and loss; of U.S. Army protection from the effects of revolution south of the border; of Depression-era maneuverings and labor unrest; and of a region that holds growing fascination for thousands of visitors each year. Color and authenticity come from the author's interviews with such individuals as Robert Cartledge, who for nearly three decades worked as store clerk, purchasing agent, and finally general manager of the Chisos Mining Company in Terlingua.