Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Practical gardening on the Pacific Coast
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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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Manuscripts
A collection of the personal and professional papers of Edward Davis Townsend. Included in the collection are official and private correspondence, chiefly letters addressed to him, military records, journals, memoirs, and a few photographs. Two journals cover the 2nd Seminole War from 1837 to 1838, and his service in California from 1851 to 1856. The latter was incorporated into a memoir entitled "A Trip to California;" both accounts are accompanied by pencil sketches. An unfinished memoir covers Townsend's life and career until the beginning of the Mexican War. The collection also contains a group of personal and political correspondence of Elbridge Gerry, including pieces related to his diplomatic and political career from 1772 to 1814, and the correspondence of Ann Thompson Gerry and Eliza Gerry Townsend. Also included are a copy of Samuel Auchmuty's 1761 sermon on 1 John 5:7, and contemporary copies of Jefferson Davis's letters to his wife Varina Howell Davis from 1861 to 1865. The collection also includes a spool of thread with a hidden note in it, 1861 February 10, and a cotton ball from the steamer Emma, which was loaded with cotton when its crew burned it at Fort Pulaski on August 31, 1862, to prevent its capture by the Union forces under the command of William B. Barton.
mssHM 41696
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Visual Materials
These stereographs are chiefly on yellow or orange mounts, with the text "C.E. Watkins, Pacific Coast" or "Watkins' Pacific Coast" printed in the left margin, and often listing studio addresses including "429 Montgomery Street, San Francisco," "22 and 26 Montgomery Street, opposite Lick House entrance, San Francisco," and "No. 1 Montgomery St., cor Post, San Francisco."
photST Watkins
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Visual Materials
A collection of 61 mammoth plate photographs by American photographer Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916), of various subjects in the American West, 1861-1880. The photographs include mines and mills in the Comstock district, Nevada; Yosemite Valley; Los Angeles County ranches and agriculture; San Francisco's maritime commerce and stately residences; Salt Lake City, Utah; and assorted landscape and coastal views.
Series 2
Manuscripts
Bound in black textured material. The title, "The Pacific Coast," is embossed on the center of the cover in gold lettering. The number "43" is affixed to the top of spine with glue. Mostly photo postcards and clippings of various sites on the California coast. A few images of Jack London with friends.
JLP 481
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Visual Materials
This collection contains the personal and professional papers of architect Martin Eli Weil (1940-2009), relating to Weil's work as a restoration architect and consultant in Los Angeles and Southern California. The collection contains correspondence; project and business records; reports; contracts; notes and research files; appointment books; drawings, including approximately 2920 rolled drawings; approximately 5000 photographs, chiefly snapshots depicting work in progress; material samples, including approximately 2000 fragments of wood or other surfaces containing paint samples; and 46 media files documenting the career of Martin Eli Weil; the materials date from 1964 until 2009. Files document 428 individual projects, including Frank Lloyd Wright structures such as Barnsdall Park and Hollyhock House; the restoration of the El Capitan Theater; and jobs undertaken as a consultant for the cities of San Gabriel, La Verne, Porterville, and Monrovia, California. The collection also includes papers reflecting Weil's service as Restoration Services Director for the Restoration Services Division of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs in Canada from 1971-1978; his work as an instructor in historic preservation at the University of Southern California from 1981-2009; his writing, chiefly as an architecture columnist for the Larchmont Chronicle; his involvement with the Harvard Heights community in Los Angeles, where he lived; and his Master's thesis project.
archWeil