Image Source Catalog: Ch. 12
Gold rush
I’ve been going chapter by chapter in Part 1 and trying to find the likely sources of any images seen in the book. Today I am focusing on Chapter 12 (the Gold Rush nugget chapter).
Chapter 12 comes in the middle (well, actually #3 of 4) of what seems like a run of chapters that have minimal images. Chapter 10 had a treasure item (title image) and an inset photo. Chapter 11 had an illustration (title image) and 2 full page images of treasure items. Chapter 12 has an illustration (title image) and a 1/3 page image of a treasure item. Chapter 13 (coming up), has a treasure item (title image) and a 2/3 page illustration. There is an interesting symmetry here, especially following chapter 9 which has the layout-symmetry around the “missing” page 90.
Chapter 12 only has the two images I mentioned earlier: the chapter title page illustration and a full-width image of the treasure item (nugget).
Saloon Illustration
I don’t believe any of the illustrations have a caption, and this title image is no different. It’s definitely interesting to see what comes up doing a reverse image search.
Assuming this image was made with the help of AI, I could see how an image generation tool might have been “trained” on such images.
Sometimes I like to ask an AI tool about what prompt it thinks might have been entered in order to generate a specific visual.
It suggested:
A black and white sketch of a bustling 19th-century Western saloon. The scene captures cowboys gathered around a long wooden bar and tables, engaging in conversation and playing card games. The two-story interior features a mezzanine balcony overlooking the main floor, with a variety of characters depicted in a detailed, illustrative style on textured paper, resembling an artist’s sketchbook drawing with visible line work.
I took that prompt to a different AI tool to see what it might do:
Then I went back to the first tool and started a fresh chat to try one more time:
Anyways, I have not discovered or come across any specific finding from the original illustration. Certainly the “X” in the creature (horse-bull?) on the balcony feels suspicious.
And markings on the floor seem to spell out some letters (maybe in a similar way to the lines in the Ch 5 dancers image).
Gold Nugget Treasure Item
The image in the book appears to be an original photograph. The blue textured background appears in several other treasure item photos that also seem to be original. I have previously noted that some community members create a “Treasure Inventory” sheet that helped track down info about the treasure items including auction sites from where they may have been acquired by the author. My copy of the sheet has a link to a site but it no longer seems to carry the image. I do have a thumbnail that someone put there:
It seems to be the one and if anything, it feels unlikely that the image in the book is a 3rd party image.
Here is my running list so far (nothing new from Chapter 12 to add):
Dust Cover
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11