Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Geo. Francis Train, unionist, on T. Colley Grattan, secessionist
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Rare Books
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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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Rare Books
39621
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Rare Books
The five series are: Library Records; Personal Papers given to the Library; Francis Bacon Foundation Records; the Walter and Louise Arensberg Papers; and the Art and Artifacts Collection. The Library records include administration and collection records, gifts and acquisitions, exhibit records, and a large portion of correspondence. The correspondence, almost entirely written by library director Elizabeth Wrigley, is with students, other organizations, scholars, and, notably, interested Baconians (supporters of the theory that Francis Bacon was the true author of the plays attributed to Shakespeare). There are also records of gifts to the library, including books, ephemera and papers of Baconians and other scholars studying the Shakespeare authorship question. These papers comprise the Personal Papers series, and are organized by owner name: Isabelle Kittson Brown, Eugene Dernay, George Drury, Johan Franco, R. W. (Reginald Walter) Gibson, Olive Woodward Hoss, Karl [Richards] Wallace, and A. Allen Woodruff. The Francis Bacon Foundation papers contain articles of incorporation, financial and legal documents, and some correspondence of the board members. There are also clippings and photostats on Shakespeare, Bacon and Elizabethan history that were collected for research purposes. This represents only a portion of the Foundation records; the remainder are in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The personal and family papers of Walter and Louise Arensberg include Walter Arensberg's cryptographic research files, charts and notes; personal papers; drafts of his poems and books; correspondence with Baconians; photographs; and letters of Arensberg and [Louise] Stevens family members. The letters between Walter and his brother Charles F. C. Arensberg are particularly personal and informative. This portion of the Arensbergs' personal papers does not include their correspondence with artists or their art-collecting activities. Those papers (the Arensberg Archives) were given by the Francis Bacon Foundation to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which also holds the Arensberg Art Collection of Modern and pre-Columbian art. The last series of the archive is a group of art objects and historical artifacts that belonged to the Foundation and library. Some were collected by the Arensbergs, and some were acquired by the library after their deaths. They are listed with their original descriptions kept by the Foundation. The collection is organized into these series and subseries: Series 1. Library Records1.1 Administrative records1.2 Collection records1.3 Correspondence 1.3.1. General 1.3.2. Colleges, Universities and Schools 1.3.3. Foundations, Societies, etc. 1.3.4. Libraries and Related Institutions 1.3.5. Correspondence with Baconians 1.4 Exhibits 1.5 Financial records. Series 2. Personal Papers 2.1. Isabelle Kittson Brown Papers, circa 1880-19282.2. Eugene Dernay Papers, 1861-1960 2.3 George Drury Papers, 1960-1964 2.4. Johan Franco Publication plates, undated 2.5. R. W. (Reginald Walter) Gibson Papers, circa 1940-1959. 2.6. Olive Woodward Hoss Papers, circa 1920-1969. 2.7. Karl [Richards] Wallace Papers, circa 1960-1973. 2.8. A. Allen Woodruff Papers, circa 1893-1949. Series 3. Francis Bacon Foundation Records. Series 4. Walter and Louise Arensberg Papers 4.1. Correspondence. 4.1.1. General. 4.1.2. Correspondence with Baconians. 4.1.3. Arensberg Family correspondence. 4.1.4. Stevens Family correspondence. 4.2. Personal 4.3. Writings 4.4. Financial 4.5. Legal. 4.6. Research 4.7. Photographs. Series 5. Art and Artifacts Collection. Arrangement: The arrangement and titles of the files have been kept as much as possible in the original order of the records maintained by the Arensbergs and the library staff. Folders are arranged alphabetically by title within series. Documents within folders are arranged in chronological order by date with undated materials residing at the end of each folder. One exception is research files, which have been kept in their original order, which was not always chronological, but often by topic.
602120
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Visual Materials
The Charles Francis and Mira Culin Saunders Collection of Photographs and Negatives consists of 5826 black and white photographs, 68 glass plate negatives, 3832 film negatives, 10 photograph albums, 261 lantern slides, and related ephemera, ca. 1871-1965 (bulk 1910s-1920s), collected and created by Charles Francis Saunders, Elisabeth Hallowell Saunders, and Mira Culin Saunders. The collection provides a comprehensive overview of Charles Saunders' activities as a naturalist and travel writer. The collection is broadly divided into four parts: photographs created and collected by Charles and Elisabeth Saunders; photographs created and collected by Mira Saunders; photograph albums assembled by Charles Saunders; and lantern slides. All four parts contain similar and overlapping subject matter. The first part of the collection includes numerous views of Pasadena and Altadena; portraits of Charles Saunders, Mira Saunders, and family and friends; the Saunders home, Ah-Tshi-Quah-Nah, at 580 North Lake Avenue in Pasadena (front and back exterior views, garden views, and interiors); miscellaneous Pasadena residences; vineyards and orchards in and around Pasadena; the San Gabriel Mountains, including Mount Wilson and the Observatory; the Santa Monica Mountains and Los Angeles County (including Topanga Canyon, Malibu Creek, Devil's Punchbowl, and Llano del Rio); Monrovia, San Gabriel, and Sierra Madre in the San Gabriel Valley; Los Angeles city and county (including the Plaza, Olvera Street, the La Brea Tar Pits, Santa Monica, Venice, San Pedro, and Santa Catalina Island); landscape views in numerous California counties (including Inyo, Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Tulare, Fresno, and Ventura); Yosemite National Park; views taken on excursions (including from Santa Barbara to San Franciso, Portland to Pasadena, to Cuyama, to Ballarat, and Ojai to Ensenada); California Missions; camping and picnic scenes (with emphasis on the Mojave Desert); flora; Native Americans and Native American sites in Arizona and New Mexico; New Orleans; Mexico; Central America (including El Salvador, Panama, and Nicaragua); and Canada. The second part of the collection, photographs created and collected by Mira Saunders, includes many views of civic buildings in Pasadena (including City Hall and the Public Library, with an emphasis on the trees and shrubs surrounding these buildings); Pasadena parks (including Carmelita Gardens); Pasadena gardens and homes; the Saunders home and garden; California Missions; botanic gardens (including many views of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden); and flora. The 10 photograph albums were created by Charles Saunders around 1900. Some of the images included in these albums can be found elsewhere in the collection; some of the photographs were taken by Elisabeth Saunders. The subjects of the albums include Southern California mountains and deserts; the Navajo and Zuni Indians; Santa Catalina Island; Pasadena; and Yosemite. The lantern slides depict the same general subjects as found elsewhere in the collection. Approximately half duplicate images found in the collection; the remainder are unique. The majority are hand-colored. Also included in the collection are ephemeral materials. These include a bookplate designed by Charlotte Blazer, used for the Saunders botanic library donated to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden; various notes by Mira Saunders; and cards and postcards. Photographers represented in the collection include A.E. Arnold; Max Munn Autrey; Guy Barry, Swastika Studio; Ernest H. Brooks; Lindley Eddy; Frasher's; Gilbert and Bacon, Philadelphia; F. Gutenkunst, Philadelphia; I.O. Haskin, Oregon; Lamson; Marriott C. Morris; Notel, Pasadena; Harold A. Parker, Pasadena; H.C. Phillips, Philadelphia; Wright M. Pierce; L.S. Slevin, Carmel; Ward Wicart Studios, Santa Barbara; F.A. Wenderoth and Co., Philadelphia; and S.H. Willard. Many photographs have notations by Charles Saunders on the verso.
photCL 276