Visual Materials
[Carte-de-visite portrait of Charles Dickens]
Image not available
Visual Materials
Image not available
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Visual Materials
A collection of 201 photographs consisting primarily of photographic portraits of Charles Dickens and photographs of family members and residences associated with him and his works. The portraits (no. 1-95) are arranged chronologically and most are later reproductions. The group includes a signed portrait by Herbert Watkins (no. 15), as well as several portraits with the London Stereoscopic & Photographic Co. stamp (no. 30-33). Items 96 through 111 are photographic reproductions of painted, sketched, and lithographed portraits of Dickens. Photographs of Dickens and his family and friends include his children Kate Perugini, Mamie Dickens, Charles Dickens, Jr., Walter Savage Landor Dickens, Alfred Tennyson Dickens, Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens, Henry Fielding Dickens, and Edward Bulmer Lytton Dickens (known as "Plorn"). There are several photographs of Georgina Hogarth. Items 141 through 201 are photographs of residences that Dickens occupied, sometimes very briefly, throughout his lifetime. There is also a London Stereoscopic Company photograph of Dickens's stuffed raven "Grip," which that firm purchased at auction in 1870. Some of the photographers include Henri Claudet, C. Watkins, Herbert Watkins, J. & C. Watkins, John Watkins, Octavius Watkins, Alphonse Maze-Sencier, Mason & Co., and J. Gurney & Son.
photCL 36
Image not available
Manuscripts
A collection of drawings, etchings, prints, and watercolors originally part of a bound volume; the material is related to Charles Dickens, his life, and some of the characters from his books, including "Nicholas Nickleby," "The Old Curiosity Shop," "Oliver Twist," and "The Pickwick Papers." Also included are drawings of Dickens and his wife, Catherine Dickens, and their visit to America in 1842. The material was created by various artists including Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"), George Cattermole, George Cruikshank, Daniel Maclise, Joseph Kenny Meadows, Pierre Morand, Frederick Sem, and Sir Leslie Ward ("Spy"). Also included is the original separated binding.
mssDickenspo
Image not available
Visual Materials
Approximately 5,000 cartes-de-visite and a few tintypes, almost all portraits. The carte-de-visite, or calling card photograph, is generally an albumen print mounted on cardstock, 4 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches. Some photographs are hand colored or have handwritten names written on the back. The binders contain about 200 to 250 photographs each.
photCL 581
Image not available
Visual Materials
Carte-de-visite studio portraits of American author James Fenimore Cooper (photPF 20815), his brother Levi Cooper (photPF 20816, 20818), and his sister Anna Cooper (photPF 20817), two photographers identified on cartes-de-visite versos: J.H. Abbott of Albany, New York (photPF 20815) and Higgins & Terril of Elyria, Ohio (photPF 20817).
photPF 20815-20818
Image not available
Manuscripts
A series of letters written to Charles Kent on the occasion of a dinner held in honor of Charles Dickens before his departure to the United States in November 1867. The letters were written in response to Kent's request the letter writers would be stewards for the dinner on November 2, 1867. The majority of the letters are short notes accepting or declining the invitation; many of the letters with envelopes. The letters were written by many of the most famous men of Victorian Britain, including prime ministers, politicians, authors, actors, artists, and businessmen, including, among others, Wilkie Collins, Frederick Locker-Lampson, and William Henry Wills. The collection also includes a small number of letters by Charles Dickens, printed copies of all the letters and other ephemera, a large printed poster announcing the dinner, and the original separated bindings.
mssHM 18584-18746
Image not available
Visual Materials
A group of carte-de-visite photographs from the 1860s. Three views of steamships, including the USS Lancaster (1865); a photograph of an engraving of Joshua A. Norton (Emperor Norton); and portraits of General Tom Thumb, his wife and their baby; General Charles Decker, a man with dwarfism; Dr. Perez Snell and a group portrait of the Mandeville children: Gertey, John, and Jinnie (of Sonora); George Harrison and Benjamin Harrison of Chicago (not the US President); Dr. Andrew Fine (Oakland); Joseph Osmun and Judge Valentine (Hackettstown, New Jersey); Charles Buel; and Lena Simpson (died 1922), a Chinese woman who lived in Sonora and was known as "China Lena." She was married to Thomas Simpson, an African American man who lived in Tuolumne County.
photPF 2840-2859