Historical Print Collection
The historical print collection at the Huntington consists of over 250,000 images which depict aspects of British and American cultural and political life between the 16th and 19th centuries. Depicted in separately issued prints and in extra-illustrated books are portraits, historical scenes/events, political and social caricatures, theatrical and literary history, illustrations to Shakespeare’s plays, Biblical illustrations, British and American views, and British and American trade cards. The work of various artists, engravers, and publishers can be analyzed, and the early beginnings and development of printmaking is also available for study.
The collection as a whole includes but is not limited to the following broad subject areas: political, military, domestic, and religious life; social class; medicine, illness, and death; humor; judicial systems; architecture; commerce; and costume. A small selection of prints outside the Huntington’s emphasis on Anglo-American history are available (i.e. French and Dutch/Flemish portraiture; caricatures by Daumier; 19th century French costume). Typically, however, "foreign" prints are collected only when the event or person portrayed played a role in the development of Anglo-American history or culture.
Ephemera Collection
The Huntington’s collection of ephemera, that body of material which was produced for a one-time, limited purpose, is an expansive archive of several hundred thousand pieces. The variety of subjects and formats represented in the larger collection support historical research in the fields of American and British cultural studies.
Formats include but are not limited to citrus labels, campaign buttons, scrapbooks, maps, sheet music, promotional literature, postcards, birds-eye-views, playbills, and posters. Subjects include but are not limited to American politics, the development of Southern California, theatre and performing arts history, 20th century American railroads, commerce and advertising.
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