The Annals of San Francisco
Frank Soule, John H. Gihon, Jim Nisbet. 1855
Written by three journalists who witnessed and participated in the extraordinary events they describe. This is an essential record for historians and a fascinating narrative for general readers. 100+ historical engravings included.
Partial Contents: Expeditions of Viscaino; Conduct of the Fathers towards the natives; Colonel John C. Fremont; Description of the Golden Gate; The Mission and Presidio; Removal of the Hudson's Bay Company; gambling; General Effects of Gold Discoveries; Third Great Fire; The Chinese in California; Clipper Ships; commercial depression.

Mark Twain's San Francisco (California Legacy)
Edited by Bernard Taper
A selection of Mark Twain's stories between 1863 and 1866. Among Twain's counterparts during these literary years were Bret Harte, Ambrose Bierce, Henry George, the flamboyant Joaquin Miller, and Ina Coolbrith. They loosened the stricture of "proper" English by writing freely of the lusty life surrounding them in the raw West. Twain wrote his witty pieces for the "Call, Golden Era, Californian, Sacramento Union" and the "Daily Dramatic Chronicle," ("The San Francisco Chronicle") Illustrated.

San Francisco Lithographer: African American Artist Grafton Tyler Brown
(The Charles M. Russell Center Series on Art and Photography of the American West)
Robert J. Chandler, Ph.D., Shirley AnnWilson Moore, Ron Tyler, PhD.
Grafton Tyler Brown—whose heritage was likely one-eighth African American—finessed his way through San Francisco society by passing for white. Working in an environment hostile to African American achievement, Brown became a successful commercial artist and businessman in the rough-and-tumble gold rush era and the years after the Civil War.Best known for his bird’s-eye cityscapes, he also produced and published maps, charts, and business documents, and he illustrated books, sheet music, advertisements, and labels for cans and other packaging.

Cannibal Eliot and the Lost Histories of San Francisco
Hilton Obenzinger
Stories from diaries, memoirs, interviews and other firsthand accounts of San Francisco history from 1776 to the 1906 earthquake and fire. Includes "The Demented Grin of Father Fernandez"; "Belle Cora and the Vigilantes"; a tale about "Charles Crocker, His Fence, and the Troubles of 1877".

Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture
William R. Leach
This monumental work of cultural history, nominated for a National Book Award, chronicles America's transformation, beginning in 1880, into a nation of consumers, devoted to a cult of comfort, bodily well-being, and endless acquisition. 24 pages of photos.