The Silent Traveller
in San Francisco

by Chiang Yee

Dust Jacket - front:

This is a delightful, old book about San Francisco. This book is wonderfully illustrated with 16 full color plates and a number of black and white drawings. This First Edition book was published in 1964 by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York. The book measures 6 3/8 inches by 9 ½ inches and contains 366 pages. The dust jacket shows signs of light soiling. The edges are a bit tattered and some of the edges have been reinforced with cellophane tape. The overall condition of the dust jacket is good. The gray cloth cover shows minor signs of wear to the edges, corners and to the top and bottom of the spine. The spine is tight and the hinges are strong. One section of pages has come loose from the binding (but still loosely attached - first 30 pages) but all pages are present and accounted for. The pages show no signs of rips. Occasional words are underlined. This does not affect the readability of the text in any way. There is a gift inscription on the inside front cover. A list of page numbers is written in pencil on the front free end page along with an old price marking. Exceptions noted, the overall condition of the book itself is good plus.

Front Cover/Spine

Title Page

Title Page - Verso

Contents

Approaching Differently
Walking Reflectively
Listening Receptively
Climbing Perilously
Cruising Hypnotically
Rising Elegantly
Blowing Mysteriously
Marveling Literally
Smiling Unconditionally
Downing Exaltingly
Eating Customarily
Contrasting Simultaneously
Embracing Wholly
Living Pre-Assignedly
Edging Invariably
Feeling Nostalgically
Mooning Non-Mooniacly
Learning Unacademically
Murmuring Secretively
Seeking Objectively
Drinking Inordinately
Darting Surprisingly
Imitating Uproariously
Twisting Grotesquely
Concluding Temporarily

Market Street and the Bay from Twin Peaks

Excerpt – Dust Jacket:
The Silent Traveller’s explorations take him this time to San Francisco – a city whose fog-draped hills and winding streets recall for him the poetic beauty and mystery of his much loved Chinese landscape. So it is with special interest and affection that Chiang Yee, distinguished author, artist, and poet, guides the reader through the streets, parks, and shores of one of the world’s most enchanting and picturesque cities.

Chiang Yee presents us with an unusually keen and original view of San Francisco as eh wanders along with notebook in hand. He delights in the resemblance of the bisons in Golden Gate Park to bearded beatniks. The colors, sounds, and smells of Fisherman’s Wharf remind him of a Chinese country market; the view from the Golden Gate Bridge tower moves him to deep philosophical contemplation. But whether it be the sight of a quail in a rhododendron bush, a walk down Market Street, a climb up Telegraph Hill, or a meal in Chinatown, Chiang Yee always charms the reader with his quizzical, quiet observations which fuse the old with the new, the historical with the present.

Now and then Chiang Yee’s poems appear, illuminating his particular pleasure at the sudden vista or new idea. The book is illustrated with sixteen of the author-illustrator’s magnificent full-color paintings and with over fifty of his black and white drawings.
End excerpt