I discovered a rather charming book filled with more than 100 engravings---Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California, James M. Hutchings, 1865---while browsing books on Yosemite through StackLife. From Calaveras Grove to the Alabaster County Cave's Dungeon of Enchantment and Crystal Castle, Hutchings lovingly illustrates the West, all while remarking upon some of its oddities.
There are many scenes of wonder to marvel at---just take a look at the spread of Yosemite Valley, the mammoth trees of Mariposa, the Farallon Islands (no longer readily accessible to most of us slumps, though hailed as "America's Galapagos" in some parts), or the Riffle-Box Waterfall at Deer Creek in the gallery below.
But my favorite just might be a curiosity: that's right, it's a good thing few tourists set foot on the Farallones; you never know when a sea lion might grab you by your coattails. Safer, really, to admire the flora and fauna from afar---might I suggest the Farallones Cam?
(Hutchings seems to have been rather prolific; In the Heart of the Sierras, from 1886, looks like another fabulously illustrated book on the Yosemite Valley.)