Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
The enchanted mesa, and other poems
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Visual Materials
The C.C. Pierce collection constitutes one of the most important collections of historical photographs of early California and Los Angeles extant. The collection of 10,100 prints was assembled by Charles C. Pierce, a photographer and long-time operator of a thriving Los Angeles photographic business. The collection is divided into nine topical headings devised by Pierce; these include Los Angeles Historical; Indians; Missions; California cities, counties, etc.; Industries and Agriculture; Transportation; Natural History; Art and Architecture; and Miscellaneous Scenery. Within these large sections are smaller categories that focus on the history, landscape, people, civic and cultural events, built environment, and development of Southern California and the Southwest from approximately 1845-1930. Of particular interest are the various Indian tribes depicted as well as all twenty-one of the California Missions.
photCL Pierce
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Visual Materials
Photographs made by Adam Clark Vroman, ca. 1892-1909, spanning various subjects, primarily his bookstore in Pasadena, California, and scenes from his travels. Of particular significance is Vroman's handwritten journal of a trip to see the Snake Dance at Walpi, Arizona, in 1895, written sequentially on the back of 19 mounted photographs. Vroman's traveling companions were Horatio N. Rust, Mrs. Thaddeus (Leontine) Lowe, and Charles J. Crandall, who are shown, along with Vroman, at pueblos, and traveling with supplies and wagons. There are also views of the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest. The California images include scenery and travelers in the San Gabriel Mountains, Mount Wilson, Mount Lowe and the Alpine Tavern, and travelers having a picnic; details of missions; historic adobes of Monterey; Rancho Guajome Adobe in San Diego County; Yosemite and one view of Indians living in Yosemite Valley. Locations depicted in other parts of the United States are: Manitou, Colorado; Oregon, Illinois; Niagara Falls; Grant's Tomb; a bird's-eye-view of Santa Fe, New Mexico; and other miscellaneous views. Vroman travelled to Japan in 1903 and 1909, and eight prints in the collection show Japanese men and women in traditional dress, as well as details of architecture. Vroman appears in a few photographs. There are several portraits of Pueblo Indian men, some identified in Vroman's captions.
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