Rare Books
Moral envoy
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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
The collection consists of material relating to Florence Ranuzzi's personal activities, including her early life in the motion picture industry, and business papers concerning Poor Richard's Bookshop. The collection includes 249 single-item cataloged letters and manuscript materials, 3 boxes of ephemera and small publications, 6 scrapbooks, and a number of printed books which were transferred to the Rare Books Department.
RAN 202
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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 E_30
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Manuscripts
Elbridge Gerry's Copybook of Records of the Proceedings of the XYZ Mission.
mssHM 3139