An indispensable authority about the early years of American settlement in California, including, but not limited to pre-Spanish inhabitants, the Spanish-Mexican period, and the time since U.S. sovereignty was established. It includes information about the county’s agriculture, discovery of gold, industry, county education, county government and politics. Ventura was a part of Santa Barbara until 1872 and this book contains a separate history of Ventura. The history presented is partly the result of access granted to private as well as thorough result of county records. Many illustrations, portraits and biographical sketches. At the rear of the book is a "Patrons Directory" listing early settler names, the town in which they lived, their occupation, where they came from, when they arrived, and how many acres they owned.

Oakland: Thompson & West, 1883. 1^st edition. 477 pages. Leather spine over brown cloth beveled boards; all original. The book has had some professional cosmestic work done. New pastedowns and endpapers. All lettering and gilt decorations are clearly legible with the exception of “1883” on the lower portion of the spine; the gilt on the digits has been partially rubbed away. Some foxing and offsetting to the pages. Overall in VERY GOOD condition.