Felix Wierzbicki

Title page of California As It Is and As It May Be

Felix Wierzbicki (Polish: Feliks Paweł Wierzbicki) (January 1, 1815, Czerniawka, Volhynia, Poland, now Chernyavka, Ukraine December 26, 1860) was a Polish-American doctor, soldier, veteran of the November Uprising,[1] traveler, and writer.[2]

In 1849, Wierzbicki published in San Francisco the first English-language book printed in California,[3] California As It Is and As It May Be.[4][5][6] The book is an "unvarnished" description of the culture, peoples, and climate of the area at that time. Wierzbicki described prospective settlers, and included a survey of agriculture and hints on gold mining.[7]

His remains were eventually interred at the San Francisco National Cemetery.[1][3]

Books

References

  1. 1 2 Teofil Lachowicz, Polish Freedom Fighters on American Soil: Polish Veterans in America from the Revolutionary War to 1939, ISBN 1936198312, 2011 p. 21
  2. "Wierzbicki Feliks Paweł", Encyklopedia PWN
  3. 1 2 Gillian Olechno-Huszcza (Spring 1985). "Feliks Pawel Wierzbicki in California" (PDF). Vol. 42, No. 1. Polish American Studies. pp. 5969. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  4. Felix Wierzbicki, "California Guidebook", 1849
  5. Wierzbicki, Felix Paul. California As It Is and As It May Be. San Francisco: Grabhorn Press, 1933
  6. Felix Wierzbicki, California Guidebook, 1849 online
  7. California As I Saw It, 1849-1900. Vol. 15. [database on-line] Washington: Library of Congress, 1999
  8. Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonymous English Literature, 1928, Vol. 3 P. 128
  9. A contemporary review of the book, The Boston Quarterly Review, April 1842


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