Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
The American bisons, living and extinct
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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
This collection contains of the business records of the Merrymount Press and the related papers of its founder Daniel Berkeley Updike (1860-1941). The bulk of the collection consists of financial volumes; correspondence with customers, publishers, illustrators, craftsmen, and suppliers; bills; estimates; and scrapbooks with specimens of work. While the majority of the correspondence is comprised of letters, there are occasionally proofs, specimens, and cloth, paper, fabric samples, etc., found with the correspondence. The records reflect Updike's involvement with printing across the United States and in Europe, though much of his work was produced for clients in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York City. Some of the correspondence reflects Updike's personal interests including Rhode Island history and churches and charitable work with poor children as well as prison inmates.
mssMerrymount
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Visual Materials
The Citrus label collection contains more than 1,500 lithographed labels related to the California citrus industry in the United States from 1880 to 1960, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1890 to 1940. The vast majority of the collection consists of lithographed labels produced for Californian growers, packers, and distributors to identify brand names and packing locations on wooden shipping crates of oranges, lemons and grapefruits. Many of the labels were printed by Los Angeles and San Francisco lithographers. The collection includes a range of lithography techniques from crayon drawing and hand stippling to the use of Ben Day screen patterns and half-tone lithography. The collection also includes more than 100 examples with "bronzing," a printing technique where varnish is printed on the label, followed by a dusting of fine bronze powder. A significant number of labels are stamped on verso with a received date by the Fruit Growers Supply Company, and some include signatures of approval or notations about printing corrections. The collection provides a broad view of the development of citrus fruit advertising over time, and also touches upon topics of commerce, manufacturing, travel and tourism, and promotion of the western United States. In the earliest examples, themes include naturalistic designs of flowers, animals, women, historical subjects, and scenic landscapes. Brand names, simple designs, block letters, and geometric patterns dominate in later examples. Many of the labels depict orange groves, scenic views, or flowers, though the collection also includes a wide variety of imagery beyond these themes including Native Americans, transportation, children, and portraits of famous or fictional people.
ephCL B_34
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Rare Books
621320
