Harropian Books

[Sourdough] [Yukon] Poems of Klondyke's Early Days and Alaska's Long White Trail

CREWE, Fred (Paul Menzel as Sender)

Milwaukee, WI: Printed by The North American Press, 1921. Softcover. Inscribed on 2nd fep "To Miss Mabel Coates / In appreciation of a Good Girls Friendship from one of the Old Alaskan Sourdoughs. Paul Menzel". Menzel was a miner and butcher who lived in Fairbanks, Alaska. Menzel also enclosed a 3.5 x 5.75 inch wide photograph (toned and creased) of the Healy River Coal mine, near the now Ghost Town of Suntrana, in central Alaska. His personal miner's notes are on the verso, commenting on the mines dividend paying potential and the richness of the claim "... look at the different coal veins - the coal unlimited in sight". Also included is the original mailing box from when Menzel sent the book to Miss Coates in Philadelphia. Full leather over flexible card, title and decorations stamped onto upper and lower covers, oblong 16mo size (5-7/8 inches tall), pp. [unpaginated], all edges gilt, colored endpapers, illustrated throughout w. B&W halftone photo reproductions and line drawings. Box is worn with wear and tear ; book w. some rubbing to edges and tips, else bright and clean. Book is Near Fine / Box is Good Only. Item #4672

In 1910, Paul Menzel was arrested by a Special Deputy Marshall on the Valdez Trail for quietly leaving town with his $2,400 Gold poke and leaving behind three unpaid creditors. (see the Sept. 26, 1910 issue of "The Alaska Citizen" for details) The three plaintiffs had filed suit and he was duly arrested before being brought in to explain his actions. He later settled down to be an upstanding citizen, raising a family and working as a butcher in Fairbanks.

Price: $425.00 CAD  other currencies