Some Reflections of an Early California Governor Contained in a Short Dictated Memoir by Frederick F. Low, Ninth Governor of California, and Notes from an Interview Between Governor Low and Hubert Howe Bancroft in 1883.

One of 310 copies printed by the Grabhorn Press. Original publisher's red-orange patterned cloth-covered boards backed with beige-gray cloth. Gilt lettering on brown spine label. 9" x 11 1/2." Seventy-seven pages, complete. One color frontispiece portrait illustration of Frederick F. Low, complete. Notes and Index in back. Pages are virtually pristine and intact except for light age toning and tiny smudge on Contents page. Covers are virtually pristine and intact except for slight fading to covers. Corners are sharp and not bumped. Binding is tight. A Fine copy. This book contains the printed text of original manuscripts conveying the thoughts and beliefs of Governor Frederick F. Lowe (1828-1894), an American politician who served as the 9th Governor of California from 1863-1867. Lowe also served as a United States Representative from California from 1862-1863 and U.S. Minister to China from 1869-1873. The first part contains a manuscript that was dictated by Low to a writer who transcribed his thoughts. In this manuscript, Low includes an autobiographical account of some parts of his life and brief history of early California. The other part contains an interview between Low and Hubert Howe Bancroft (1832-1918), an American historian and ethnologist. In this interview, Low briefly discusses his career as a banker and some of his opinions about other politicians. Bancroft asks Low about pressing subjects of the time including the monopoly of the Central-South Pacific Railroad and Chinese immigration. Low voices his concern for the "avariciousness" of some of the railroad magnates but also concludes that he cannot speak to the allegations of corruption leveled against the railroad monopoly in California. Low appears to have contradictory beliefs regarding Chinese immigration. On the one hand, he argues that Chinese people are too different from white Americans and that they cannot assimilate into American society. However, after Bancroft notes the double standard of allowing different European ethnicities to immigrate the U.S., Low also says that the U.S. should not be walled off as China was to other countries and that he is against rigid restrictions on Chinese immigration. Edited with a Preface and notes by Robert H. Becker. Back colophon: "Sacramento Book Collectors Club, Publication Number 7; Printed in an edition of 310 copies at the Grabhorn Press, San Francisco, April 1959.".…