Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Mendocino County, California
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Visual Materials
This collection contains 269 stereographs by photographer Carleton E. Watkins, dating from the 1860s to about the 1880s, that chiefly depict buildings, points of interest, and locales in Northern and Southern California. The collection includes 1 stereograph from the Central Pacific Railroad series; 5 stereographs from Watkins' Pacific Railroad Series; 110 stereographs from Watkins' Pacific Coast series; and 150 stereographs from Watkins' New Series. The Watkins' Pacific Coast Series, created between 1861 and 1874, primarily depict locales in Northern California with many images of buildings in San Francisco, views of Yosemite and Mariposa County, Missions, and some mining operations including photographs of the North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company in Nevada County, California. The Watkins' New Series stereographs, created between 1874 and 1890, consist of images of both Southern California and Northern California, in cities including San Francisco, Pasadena, San Marino, Sierra Madre, and San Gabriel. Among the Southern California residences and properties depicted include the Sunny Slope Ranch of L.J. Rose in San Gabriel, Willow Dale owned by N.C. Carter, and Lake Vineyard owned by B.D. Wilson. Some of the stereographs in Watkins' Pacific Coast Series include titles in the margins in Watkins' own hand (see Nos. 1033, 1135, 1146, 1153, and 1721).
photST Watkins
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Visual Materials
The Charles Francis Saunders and Mira Culin Saunders Collection of Photographs and Negatives consists of 5826 black and white photographs, 68 glass plate negatives, 3832 film negatives, 10 photographs albums, 261 lantern slides, and related ephemera, ca. 1871-1965 (bulk 1910s-1920s), collected and created by Charles Francis Saunders, Elisabeth Hallowell Saunders, and Mira Culin Saunders. The collection provides a comprehensive overview of Charles Saunders' activities as a naturalist and travel writer.
photCL 276
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Visual Materials
The Eugene Swarzwald Pictorial California and the Pacific Collection consists of 9,674 black and white photographs, negatives, a photograph album, magazine mock-ups, letters, and ephemera, dated 1909-ca. 1968. Eugene Swarzwald and the Swarzwald family collected the material for use in the magazine "Pictorial California and the Pacific." Images depict California and the West with some coverage of the rest of the United States and international destinations. The collection contains photographs depicting general city views of communities in California, scenic views of wilderness areas, images of parks, schools and universities, museums, and points of historic interest (including California mining towns and missions). The collection is strong in subjects related to leisure and social and recreational activities. Many of the photographs are by the Keystone Photo Service. Other photographers include Chuck Abbott, Adelbert Bartlett, Lionel T. Berryhill, Lil and Al Bloom, Hal Boucher, Campbell-Ricco-Mazzuchi Photography, Caroll Photo Service, Garth Chandler, Walter J. Collinge, Fairchild Aerial Surveys, George O. Fales, Frasher's, J. P. Graham, Dean Hesketh Company, Charles M. Hiller, Pat and G. E. Kirkpatrick, Don Knight, Albert J. Kopec, Ward Linton, Lothers and Young, Hubert A. Lowman, David M. Mills, Don Milton, Gabriel Moulin Studios, Karl Obert, Earle O'Day, Pacific Air Industries Aerial Photography, Dave Packwood, Padilla Studios, Maynard L. Parker, Jack W. Patterson, Julius Shulman, Spence Air Photos, H. W. Steward, Thiem, Harry Vroman, Whithurse Aerial Photos, and Steven H. Willard.
photCL 310
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Visual Materials
This collection contains photographs, negatives, and some ephemera chiefly collected by California conservationist and editor William H. Thrall (1873-1963) for use in Trails magazine. Thrall served as managing editor of the publication from 1934 to 1939, which was produced to encourage the use of mountain trails and outdoor recreation in Los Angeles County. The collection includes approximately 1200 prints (Boxes 1-4); 68 glass negatives (Boxes 7-8); approximately 2300 film negatives; 150 slides; and miscellaneous documents and ephemera, and a folding pocket camera. The photographs primarily date from the 1930s, but also include copy prints (and some originals) of late 19th and early 20th photographs. The images depict mountain and forested landscapes and outdoor recreational activities including hiking, skiing, and camping, chiefly in the San Gabriel Mountains and surrounding mountains of Southern California. Many of the photographs include individuals involved in recreational activities as well images of historical mountain pioneers. The photographs chiefly consist of 4.5 x 2.75 inch snapshots and 8 x 10 and 6 x 10 inch prints, by photographers including Dan P. Alexander, Carl H. Bauer, Harlow Dormer, C. C. Vernon, and Thrall. There is also a group of glass plate negatives and film negatives, including a group of unprinted film negatives that appear to be personal photographs with views of nature, groups of people, family scenes, buildings, boating, and trips, in the 1930s-1950s (Box 15). The film negatives have handwritten numbers presumably assigned by Thrall. Many of the prints appear in Trails magazine, which was published quarterly by the Mountain League of Southern California from Winter 1934 to Spring 1939 (Volume 6, No. 1). In Autumn 1941, the Southern California Outdoor Federation began publishing a new edition of Trails Magazine (without Thrall as editor), but only two issues were published (Volume 2, Nos. 1-2).
photCL 481
