Golden Dreams And Leaden Realities, George Payson 1853 . This book was also written by George Payson, under his pseudonym Ralph Raven, and the title page reads "Golden Dreams And Leaden Realities by Ralph Raven, with an Introductory Chapter by Francis Fogie, Sen., Esq." It's a first edition that was published by G. P. Putnam in 1853, in an exquisite binding by Ringer, and it comes with a slipcase as well. The book has five raised bands, with six gilt-ruled compartments and gilt lettering and gilt tooling on the spine, "New York 1853 " in gilt at the heel of the the spine, tripled gilt- fillet borders with elaborate gilt tooling and full morocco on the front and rear covers, beautiful gilt doublures on the endpapers, "Bound by Ringer" at the bottom of the first doublure, then the half title, the title page is dated 1853, the copyright page is dated 1853, which makes this a first edition (the dates on the title page and copyright page match), followed by the Introductory Chapter and 344 pages text, all the edges are gilt, the original spine and front cover are bound in at the rear, and the bookcase comes with an attractive slipcase that has a green pull-out ribbon. As noted in the previous lot, George Payson came from Maine and became a patent lawyer, and there had to be a sense of adventure in him because he went out to California in 1849 to work in the gold mines and probably to strike it rich. The book is 8vo. and measures 7 1/4 x 5 in. wide outside the slipcase, the binding is tight, and the pages and text are rather clean, with faint brown spots here and there, and light offset on the last page from the original binding bound in at the rear, and the slipcase is in very good condition too. A rare copy of gold-rush fiction by an author who actually went out to the gold fields in California in the 1800's, and the binding is eye-popping. #28 #7034