This rare early motor guide was published by the Hancock Brothers in Oakland. Its 24 pages contain detailed driving directions for 26 routes mostly in the Bay Area, a single-page map of the Bay Area, local advertisements (including one of the Indian Tricar motorcycle), and one of the two issued folding maps (missing Southern California). The included untitled map is the larger of the two and presents the early road network in northern California, spanning from Lake County south to Monterey and east to Lake Tahoe. The fact that roads were few and far between posed real challenges to the adventurous motorist. The route directions were both detailed and vague at the same time, e.g. “Fol. tel. poles,” “Follow car tracks,” or even more ominously, “Inquire Way.” Hardbound in cloth covered boards (3.8 x 7.1"). OCLC lists only one institutional holding for this 1907 edition.

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Condition: B+

Condition code is for the folding map, which is mostly clean and bright with minor soiling and a few tiny splits at the fold junctions. Text has some minor foxing and soiling that is more prominent on the single-page map. Boards are warped and stained at top.