"California: Four Months among the Gold-Finders: Being the Diary of an Expedition from San Francisco to the Gold Districts" by Henry Vizetelly The author wrote this book without ever leaving his home in London. Instead he relied on the correspondence and notes taken by Edwin Bryant, a journalist who spent time in California. The main character of this story, while fictional, is based on Bryant's experience in the state during the Gold Rush, mixed in with multiple fictional accounts.

This fictitious diary about the Californian Gold Rush was widely accepted as genuine, and was a bestseller in 1849.

History of the State of California is an objective look into the sweltering, westernmost state of the United States. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada, and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west. With nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles, it is the most populous and the third-largest U.S. state by area.

Includes titles on all subjects, some in foreign languages, later incorporated into Memorial Library.

This vivid, panoramic history continues the exciting story begun in Wilderness at Dawn, tracing through the eyes--and adventures--of ordinary people the saga of the settlement of the United States. "Embraces the texture and the drama of the West in all its heartbreak and heroism".--Booklist. Photos & maps.