Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Rare Books
This collection consists of railroad photographs, ephemera and publications, 1829-2010, with the bulk of material from the early- to mid-20th century. The focus is chiefly locomotives and trains (steam and diesel) of major railroads and interurban electric railways of the United States and Canada. Also represented in the collection are smaller shortline and narrow-gauge railroads; other foreign railroads; streetcars (or trolleys); and burgeoning light rail and subway systems. Most of the ephemera is printed material produced by railroad companies for promotional and business purposes, such as annual reports, brochures, route maps and guides, timetables, tickets, dining menus, stationery, stock certificates, bond coupons and other items. There are also many city and state tourist guidebooks describing sights along rail routes or promoting land available for farming, mining or home-building across the United States. Also included are items produced for or by railroad employees, such as instruction and safety manuals, train orders, freight bills and in-house newsletters. Railroad industry publications, statistics and reports can be found in the American Association of Railroads files, which are part of Donald Duke's subject files on railroad-related topics. Throughout the ephemera files are newspaper and journal clippings, often from scarce small press and trade publications such as The Railway and Engineering Review, The Railroad Gazette, The Santa Fe Magazine, The Western Railroader, Railway Age and others. In addition to railroad history, other topics of social and cultural historical interest in the ephemera are: Depictions of African Americans and Native Americans in mass-marketed train travel brochures. There are many examples that reflect American cultural and class stereotypes in the early- to mid-20th century. Selected files are noted in the container list. Occupational safety and health: See railroad worker safety manuals and accident prevention literature in ephemera files. History of food and drink: See numerous dining and beverage menus throughout Railroads and Foreign Railroads ephemera files (not always noted in container list). History of graphic design and typography: See examples of early- and mid- 20th century popular styles in printed ephemera throughout collection. Photographs and negatives: The photographs depict locomotives, freight and passenger trains, logging railroads, electric interurbans and streetcars across the United States. This was primarily a publishers file of ready-for-press photographs, which are almost all 8 x 10-inch black-and-white prints, made approximately 1950s-1980s. The photographs were made chiefly by various amateur train photographers, including Donald Duke, but most are uncredited. There are some copy prints (photographs of other photographs), and a few original photographs from the late 19th-early 20th century. Some photographs have locations and dates written on the back, but many are unidentified other than the name of the railroad. There are a few files on Ward Kimball (1914-2002), one of the original animators for Walt Disney Studios and an avid rail enthusiast. There are some photographs, biographical materials, and a file on his personal backyard narrow-gauge steam railroad, Grizzly Flats Railroad, in San Gabriel, California.
645950
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Visual Materials
This collection forms part of the John Haskell Kemble maritime collection compiled by American maritime historian John Haskell Kemble (1912-1990). The collection contains 125 artworks dating from 1828 to 1981, with subjects pertaining to and/or depicting maritime vessels, including commercial and military ships. Most are oil paintings, with some watercolors also included.
artJHK 125
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Manuscripts
Series 1: Business and legal files. The first series consists of business and legal files of William Jack Chow. The files are arranged in alphabetical order by subject. These files concern both Chow's career as a lawyer and a businessman. The folders may contain a combination of business records, case files, correspondence, financial records, legal documents, memoranda, and securities. Chow also frequently traveled to Hong Kong for work. Those files are also found in this series and they span from the 1950s through 1970s. A subject of interest includes the Supreme Court of the United States landmark decision to uphold affirmative action in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. At the end of this series are Chow's books primarily related to business and law. Note: Chow's appointment books and business cards are found in Series 2.
mssChowfamily
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Manuscripts
Series 1: Business and legal files. The first series consists of business and legal files of William Jack Chow. The files are arranged in alphabetical order by subject. These files concern both Chow's career as a lawyer and a businessman. The folders may contain a combination of business records, case files, correspondence, financial records, legal documents, memoranda, and securities. Chow also frequently traveled to Hong Kong for work. Those files are also found in this series and they span from the 1950s through 1970s. A subject of interest includes the Supreme Court of the United States landmark decision to uphold affirmative action in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. At the end of this series are Chow's books primarily related to business and law. Note: Chow's appointment books and business cards are found in Series 2.
mssChowfamily
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Manuscripts
The collection is comprised primarily of the manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, and ephemera of Paul Theroux. His works are often semi-autobiographical and are based on his experiences living and traveling around the world. He is noted for his rich, sometimes ironic, description of people and places. The material comprises almost his entire career as a writer and includes multiple drafts of various works from working notebooks to printed galleys. The collection includes novels (1967-2016), short story collections (1972-2014), non-fiction and travel books (1972-2016), and shorter works including reviews, articles, short stories, plays, and lectures (1960-2015); the collection also includes Theroux's working and travel notebooks (1968-2014). The collection also contains professional papers and business correspondence (1963-2015), with publishers, agents, other authors and reader's letters; included in this material are letters from, among others, Eve Auchincloss, Peter De Vries, Margaret Drabble, Nadine Gordimer, Graham Greene, Blanche C. Gregory, Hamish Hamilton Ltd., Houghton Mifflin Company, V.S. Naipaul, Jonathan Raban, Oliver Sacks, Muriel Spark, Stephen Spender, William Styron, and Auberon Waugh. There is also a smaller amount of family material and personal correspondence (1939-2015), with family and friends; this correspondence includes Eugene Theroux, Alexander Theroux, Peter Theroux, Marcel Theroux, Louis Theroux, Anne Theroux, and various other family members. The ephemera consists of photographs, printed material and magazines (1941-1915).
mssTheroux
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Visual Materials
Professional photographs and snapshots primarily of various cities, villages, landmarks, and people in the Philippines. There are images of Filipinos in everyday activities and photographs of popular tourist areas and hotels. The collection also includes photographs of Japan, China, Manchuria, Mexico, the Western United States, and others. The photographs were collected or taken by James King Steele, who was active in the Asia tourist industry from approximately 1911 to 1935. Many of the photographs are promotional or press photos, with typed captions from news agencies. Others are snapshots taken by Steele, or professionally-made photographs. There are approximately 1,800 photographs, dating from approximately 1925 to 1936. They include black-and-white prints in various sizes, many photographic postcards, six color lithographic postcards, and approximately 300 of Steele's film negatives. Most of the negatives have corresponding prints in the collection, but there may be some negatives without prints and prints without negatives.
photCL 694