Tales of the Golden West: Being Reminiscences of Westland from its Settlement by Gold-Seekers and Traders. VERY SCARCE.

Tales of the Golden West: Being Reminiscences of Westland from its Settlement by Gold-Seekers and Traders.
VERY SCARCE.
By WARATAH" [Pseudonym of William Henry Scott Hindmarsh]. 

Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1906. True First Edition / First Printing. 
Softcover (Olive Green Pictorial Wraps).

The highly scarce, elusive 1906 collection of early New Zealand colonial history by West Coast pioneer William H. S. Hindmarsh, writing under his celebrated pen name "Waratah". Gathering twenty distinct tales—nineteen of which originally ran sequentially in the Grey River Argus columns during 1905—this volume records first-hand anecdotes of the Westland gold rushes, features profiles on regional identities like "Little Biddy of the Buller", and captures pioneer frontier life across Kumara and Hokitika. An exceptionally rare and highly sought-after landmark of early 20th-century New Zealand historical literature.

• Binding & Cloth: Original publisher's olive green pictorial card wraps with front cover photograph. Core structural binding remains completely intact with no loose pages.
Spine shows significant wear with heavy chipping, creasing, and paper loss to the extremities. Outer covers are marked, faded, and chipped, with a small degree of loss to one corner.
• Interior: 217 pages. Main text block leaves are age-tanned and fragile, remaining uniform throughout. Features a large vintage bookseller's ink stamp extending partly across the title page. A neat previous presentation inscription on the front free endpaper (ffep) has been partially whited out by a previous owner. Includes a single 2.5cm closed tear extending cleanly into the margin of one internal leaf, not obstructing text.
• Edges: Closed outer text block edges are toned and sun-darkened, consistent with the fragile early paper stock.
• Overall: A complete, Fair to Good (G) collector's copy of a foundational and notoriously fragile piece of South Island West Coast history.

ALL PHOTOS ARE OF THE ACTUAL BOOK. 

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