Life's Sunbeams and Shadows. Poems and Prose with Appendix

San Francisco: Bancroft Company, 1893. Hardcover. Very Good. Hardcover. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR. SCARCE IN THIS EDITION. John Cotter Pelton (1826-1911) was a prominent San Francisco pioneer who was involved in the early California educational system, along with personages such as Leland Stanford, to whom this book is dedicated. He was also the father of John Cotter Pelton, Jr., a Victorian-era architect who "cheap houses" still claim a charming Victorian presence throughout San Francisco. This book of poetry was compiled years after Pelton had to abandon his educational endeavors because of a serious medical problem that left him in constant pain. Nonetheless, he projects courage and optimism, as denoted by the poem on the frontispiece, which states "Look up, O soul! lo, sunbeams there, above where stormy billows roil - they pierce the shadows of despair and point a yonder peaceful goal." Includes works by other poets interspersed with his own. Labeled Volume 1, though this was the only volume published. Introduction by Frank M. Pixley. Including Biographical and Historical Notes in Prose. Octavo. Dark blue cloth boards with faded gilt title to spine. Minor wear to spine ends and light dampstaining to front board. Bookplate of Frank Stephen Dolley. Illustrated title pages. Clean, tight interior. 260 pages. POE/071406.