This is San Francisco

First edition (1948) copy of This is San Francisco by Robert O'Brien.

Perhaps no other city in the world has a personality so definitely its own as San Francisco. Its cosmopolitan mood, the drama of its past, have made it one of the most glamorous and romantic cities in the world.

With its stimulating style and gay illustrations, This is San Francisco has captured the real flavor of this fascinating city. As Joseph Henry Jackson of the San Francisco Chronicle says: "Mr. O'Brien has understood San Francisco marvelously well, and has got its essence down on paper here. This book, written with scrupulous accuracy and a warm affection which is evident on every page, will be received with delight by every San Franciscan who has any feel whatever for his city's past."

Here is the story, street by street - Embarcadero, Montgomery, Maiden Lane, Market, Broadway, Third, Mission - all the streets along the water-front, in the hills, south of the Slot, and back to the sea. Each street is described as it is today, together with the people and the events of the past that have given it its personality. Here are the Spanish adventurers who discovered the Golden Gate, the Forty-Niners, the Vigilantes, the great railroad builders, the sailing ships, the cable cars, the hangings and the duels, the thieves and the rogues, the singers and the actors and the writers, the people - always the people. James King of William, Lucky Baldwin, Lotta Crabtree - these and hundreds more throng the pages of this book, for these are the people who made San Francisco's legend and folklore and history. This is San Francisco is a book for all those who love San Francisco — for everyone interested in the background of an exciting American city.

The author has woven together the city's colorful past and vibrant pres-ent; he has synthesized the elements that make San Francisco unique among cities in the world.
Robert O'Brien writes a column, "Riptides," for the San Francisco Chronicle. One of the best-known and best-liked newspapermen on the West Coast, he is an authority on San Francisco legend and history. The illustrations have been created by Antonio Sotomayor, outstanding San Francisco artist and designer and one of the best North American caricaturists. His drawings have the same robust feeling for the city as does the author's text.

Hardcover, with dust jacket

Author: Robert O'Brien 

Illustrator: Antonio Sotomayor

Edition/Year: first edition, 1948, Whittlesey House

Condition: slight wear on dust jacket, otherwise in good vintage condition 

Dimensions: 9.5" x 6.5"