Visual Materials

Photograph album of Yosemite Valley

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Description: An album with 48 commercial views by an unknown photographer of Yosemite National Park, including El Capitan, Glacier Point, and several waterfalls. Buildings shown include Black's Hotel, Casa Nevada, Cosmopolitan Bath House, Rock Cottage, and the Sunday School Chapel.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Production date: approximately 1879-approximately 1888
Call number: photCL 317
Provenance: Purchased from M. C. Erskine, February 11, 1925.
Dimensions: volume 30 x 24 cm.
Find out more: View in the Library catalog

Notes on a trip to Yosemite Valley

Manuscripts

This manuscript is a collection of observations by Brantz Mayer concerning the Yosemite Valley. Written on a variety of sizes of paper, the majority of these being printed stationary for A. L. Bancroft & Company, these notes are largely descriptive with a poetic bent. Many are titled, such as "Yosemite Silence & Seclusion," "Yosemite's Water," "Yosemite Power of Perspective," and "Yosemite & Big Trees." Mayer writes in glowing fashion of the majesty of the meadows, mountains, and people of the area, and declares its overall beauty "unphotographable." Also included is a one-page printed pamphlet advertising a newly opened trail from Yosemite to Glacier Point, which proclaims "When you have been to GLACIER POINT you have seen the Yosemite Valley." The pamphlet also contains altitude measurements at various Yosemite Valley waterfalls, which are described by both Indian and American names.

mssHM 4279

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Scenes in Yosemite photograph album

Visual Materials

1 photograph album containing 13 black-and-white photographs of landscapes in Yosemite Valley, California, taken by photographer Carleton Watkins in the 1870s. The images focus on the natural scenery including mountains, waterfalls, and trees. Each photograph is labeled with a typed caption pasted to the album page.

photCL 409

Views of Yosemite, approximately 1869-approximately 1888

Visual Materials

A collection of 20 photographs of Yosemite National Park in California, mostly taken in Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove. The photographs feature "big trees" (i.e. Sequoia trees) in Mariposa Grove, several waterfalls, such as Nevada Falls, Vernal Falls, Yosemite Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls, and a number of peaks and geological formations, such as Sentinel Rock, Cathedral Spires, the North and South Domes, Cap of Liberty, and El Capitan. Some of the images include people, presumably tourists. The only man-made structure in the album is Black's Hotel. Some of the photographs are by Carleton E. Watkins, some by the Yosemite National Park Co.

photCL 48

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Yosemite National Park 1891

Visual Materials

An album with 80 photographs of Yosemite National Park in California showing waterfalls, peaks, rock formations, and hotels. 55 photographs were taken by John Miller Hoffman and show the Wawona Hotel, Chilnualna Falls, Mariposa Grove, Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Valley, El Capitan, Half Dome, Mirror Lake, and Stoneman House. There are a few photographs of a group of seven men and four women, one near the top of Nevada Falls and another around a tall cairn. 25 of the photographs were taken by George Fiske and show Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, El Capitan, Cathedral Spires, and Sentinel Rock, and Barnard's hotel.

photCL 81

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Photographs of Yosemite

Visual Materials

A collection of 13 photographs of Yosemite National Park made by photographer Herve Friend in 1906, showing waterfalls, the Merced River, and other scenic views of Yosemite Valley.

photCL 346

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Yosemite travel album

Visual Materials

A travel album of snapshots and reminiscences in typescript pages documenting the camping trip of eight young women and men through Yosemite in 1909. The majority of snapshots are accompanied by captions in a contemporary hand. Views include the iconic Yosemite waterfalls, redwood trees, and geologic features, and show the group hiking, relaxing, riding burros, and cooking at the campground. The album begins with a two-page whimsical poem titled "To Yosemite" about preparing for the trip, and is signed Renette Felt. The back of the album has a nine-page typescript travelogue titled "Snapshots About Camp" (unsigned; presumably by Felt), followed by a three-page typescript titled "A Knocker's View of the Yosemite Trip or a Few Bum Jokes," signed by William H. Hughes, one of the travelers.

photCL 611

Photograph album of Yosemite Valley

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

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Notes on a trip to Yosemite Valley

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Yosemite National Park 1891

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