Gala Days of Piper’s Opera House and the California Theater
©2012 Clarence D. Basso
Impresario David Belasco (1859-1931) was one of the great showmen of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was known for creating his own persona and his own legend. The famous Belasco “touch” brought audiences to theaters wherever he worked and so it was with his brief tenure at Piper’s Opera House in Virginia City, Nevada, between October 1873 and March 1874.
Belasco filled several engagements on the Comstock before the 1875 fire destroyed the original Piper’s Opera house on D Street, and in reminiscences published in 1914, he related his experiences and impressions of life on the Comstock during its tumultuous boom days.
Of Virginia City, Belasco remarked, “There is scarcely a page in [its] history before the fire that would not make lurid melodrama too strong for the palate of the theatergoer of today.”
Belasco’s time on Nevada’s Comstock had a permanent influence on his perceptions of the human condition; he noted: “Art must temper life and shape it into consistency, but Virginia City entered into my make-up in other subtle ways.”
Belasco’s observations of the drama that was Virginia City and the tragedy that was Piper’s Opera House were captured in an autobiographical article in Hearst’s Magazine in 1914. That piece was re-issued in 1991 as limited hard and soft cover editions by Clarence David Basso at Falcon Fill Press in Sparks, Nevada.
Long out of print, Gala Days of Piper’s Opera House and the California Theater by David Belasco now may be read in this PowerPoint presentation: Gala Days of Piper’s Opera House and the California Theater.
The Weekly Occidental — Nevada’s First Literary Journal
©2012 Clarence D. Basso
Some twenty nine years after its birth and demise, Comstock journalist Dan DeQuille recalled his association with the 1864 Weekly Occidental, the first literary journal published in the region that became Nevada. He said in the July 1893 issue of The Californian that the Weekly Occidental “was intended to constitute a sort of safety valve for the red-hot and hissing Comstock literary boiler.”
Although no known copies of the journal exist, several “exchanges” printed in other newspapers of the day have survived and they were collected and re-issued in 1988 in a limited edition book by Clarence D. Basso at Falcon Hill Press in Sparks, Nevada.
The contents of the limited edition book include a short story, a satirical piece about mine bosses, a piece on reporting with Mark Twain and more.
Book reviewer Sandra Macias said in the December 25, 1988, issue of the Reno Gazette-Journal, “Had it lasted, the paper might have become as well-known as the Territorial Enterprise.”
The long-out-of-print book, The Weekly Occidental —Nevada’s First Literary Journal, may now be read in this PowerPoint presentation: The Weekly Occidental – Nevada’s First Literary Journal.
Little Lucy’s Papa by Dan DeQuille
©2012 Clarence Dave Basso
Writing in the early 1860s from his “Tudor-style mansion” in Silver City, Nevada Territory, William Wright, nom de plum Dan DeQuille, contributed many “waifs from Washoe” to San Francisco’s legendary Golden Era newspaper, and among those gems was “Little Lucy’s Papa,” a masterpiece of pathos, a style for which he became famous. First published in 1864, this “Story of Silverland” was republished in 1987 as a limited edition book by Clarence Dave Basso at Falcon Hill Press in Sparks, Nevada.
The following review appeared in the spring 1988 issue of the journal Western American Literature:
“Little Lucy’s Papa: A Story of Silverland. By Dan DeQuille/William Wright. (Sparks, Nevada: Falcon Hill Press, 1987. 30 pages, $49.)
“Forty-nine dollars may seem like a lot for 30 pages. But if you could see this small book, with its heavy sable pages, its flawless printing, its multicolored embellishments on each page, and its creamy blue hard cover, you would understand the care that publisher Dave Basso gave each step of the publishing process, and thus the necessity for the price. This is one of the loveliest limited edition books I’ve seen.
“The story given such special treatment is “Little Lucy’s Papa,” first published in San Francisco’s The Golden Era in 1864. Its author, Dan DeQuille. is credited by many as being the one who taught “frontier journalism” to Mark Twain. DeQuille’s writing, like Twain’s western writing, reveals the mannerisms, the folkways, and the concerns of nineteenth-century people living in the West. This particular story is set in Virginia City, Nevada. Its main character is a man who has left his wife and children in the Fast, planning to return to them in one year, after he has made his fortune in the mines. Predictably, the years drag on and he has not returned. Just as a twist of fate finally offers him a way to make his fortune, it also takes away his chance to return home. The man dies, and is buried by strangers. The story opens and closes with a realistic, but at the same time romantic, image of his un-mourned grave. Sentimental? Definitely. Overstated? Yes, but no more than most stories of its time. Moralistic? To be sure—though not without some application in materialistic times such as these. And the verbal embellishment is complemented by the artistic embellishments. Basso is to be commended for his sense of design and balance in relation to text.
“CHARLOTTE M. WRIGHT [no relation to William Wright (Dan DeQuille)], Utah State University”
Long out of print, Little Lucy’s Papa now may be read in this PowerPoint presentation: Little Lucy’s Papa by Dan DeQuille.
Fossil Mammals at Astor Pass near Pyramid Lake, Nevada
©2011 Clarence D. Basso
John C. Merriam (1869-1945), one of the premier paleontologists of the early twentieth century, carried out most of his field work on the West Coast between 1900 and 1919. He became chairman of the-then newly created paleontology department at the University of California, Berkeley in 1912.
The present document is his 1915 report of the discovery of incomplete fossil specimens of extinct cats, camels and horses about four miles northwest of Pyramid Lake, Nevada. It enjoys renewed relevance to a much later report by Amy Dansie, et al: “The Wizards Beach Recession: Farmdalian (25,500 YBP) Vertebrate Fossils . . . .” [in] Anthropological Papers Number 21 (Carson City: Nevada State Museum, 1988), 153-174.
Read Fossil Mammals at Astor Pass near Pyramid Lake, Nevada.
Eighty Six Historic Fossils of Nevada’s Fortieth Parallel
©2011 Clarence D. Basso
Learn about the fossil sea life (ammonites, belemnites, brachiopods, corals and trilobites) discovered along Nevada’s fortieth parallel during Clarence King’s Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, 1867 -1872.
Exquisite specimens of hundreds of fossils were collected and sent to Washington, D.C. for further study by a team of paleontologists with King’s outfit, and eighty six of those fossils are featured here. They were collected near present day Lovelock, Austin, Eureka and Ely.
Read Eighty Six Historic Fossils of Nevada’s Fortieth Parallel.
Five books that should be in every Nevada library
©2011 Clarence Basso
Learn about five books that are integral to a well-rounded Nevada library. Subject matters range from prehistoric art and early mining to cartography and the explorations that gave rise to the Manifest Destiny movement and the ultimate settlement of the American West. Read Five Books that Should Be in Every Nevada Library.
Nevada Rare Book 2011 Market Value Guide
©2011 Clarence D. Basso
First edition books about Nevada’s cultural, natural and mining heritage continue to increase in value and make great collector’s items and good investments. Current values of some of the most important titles are included in the Nevada Rare Book 2011 Market Value Guide.
The Publications of Clarence D. Basso —An Abridged Bibliography
© 2011
Representing 49 years of publishing in formats ranging from newspapers to books to digital media, the appended bibliography represents a cross section of the publishing interests of Basso. Titles on Nevada geo-antiquities and cultural heritage abound and share space with those on Greek and Inca pottery.
The bibliography is grossly incomplete due to lax file management in the early years of his career. Some of the documents may be read, printed or even downloaded for free here at this site. Comments are encouraged. Enjoy The Publications of Clarence D. Basso – An Abridged List.
Camp McGarry, Nevada, A Bibliographical Essay
©2010 Clarence D. Basso
The following essay challenges popular history that 1860s-era Camp McGarry was located at the present-day site of Soldier Meadows in the Black Rock Desert of NW Nevada. Camp McGarry, Nevada, A ibliographic Essay
leave a comment