Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
The Hotel St. Francis cook book
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Rare Books
479813
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Rare Books
641710
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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
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Visual Materials
These lantern slides depict urban, agricultural, and nature scenes of California in the 1870s. The slides acted as a visual accompaniment to real estate developer Charles Victor Hall's traveling lecture promoting California's resources and benefits, aimed to encourage New Englanders and Europeans to relocate to California. This collection is significant in its images of Native Americans in California, mainly in the Yosemite area, and views of prospecting and mining. The majority of the lantern slides depict scenes from northern California, including Yosemite National Park and San Francisco. Some southern California views are also shown, including San Diego and Los Angeles County. Other slides of interest are views of the California ranches of F.P.F. Temple, Ellwood Cooper, F.D. Bacon, Maria Sepulveda, L.J. Rose (and family), and H.H. Moore. Portraits of General John C. Fremont and actress Maude Granger are also featured in the collection. In addition to the lantern slides, three copy negatives depicting the logging industry are also included. The originals are not in this collection. A printing plate with Hall's portrait is also included in this collection. The images were most likely taken by several different photographers, including Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, and Bradley & Rulofson.
photCL 521