Rare Books
Views from the island
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[View from Sugar Loaf Island, Farallon Islands]
Visual Materials
[Watkins no. 551]
(photCL Watkins 43)
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[View from arbor]
Visual Materials
The photograph album chronicles Charles F. Lummis's time with the Del Valle family at Rancho Camulos in Ventura County, California, from 1887 to 1888. There are many photographs of the Del Valle family, particularly the Del Valle daughters, with whom Lummis is shown playfully interacting. Family gatherings include a local Catholic priest, couples dancing, and young women playing instruments. Views of Rancho Camulos, the surrounding landscape, and architectural features such as the placita, the chapel, and the south veranda, are also prominently featured. The front cover of the photograph album bears the embossed title of "Susanita Del Valle," while the spine's title says, "Views of Camulos." An inscription on the third page reads: "Susanita Del Valle, with the best wishes of Chas. F. Lummis -- Feb. 3, 1888." (Susanita was a nickname for Susana Carmen Del Valle (1871-1907)). Some of the pictures appear in The home of Ramona: photographs of Camulos, the fine old Spanish estate described by Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson, as the home of 'Ramona', by Charles F. Lummis, published in Los Angeles in 1888. The Huntington Library holds a copy of this book (RB 35644) as well as a second edition (RB 252770). Both copies are illustrated with original cyanotypes by Lummis, many of which are in The home of Ramona.
photCL 504
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Views of Sand Island
Manuscripts
This single-page manuscript contains two identical drawings of very minimal landscape with an animal that appears to be a cow or steer. The top view, titled "View of Sand Island looking to the N. W." shows the animal from the front, while the bottom drawing, titled "View of Sand Island looking to the S. E.", shows the animal from the rear. It is unclear precisely which Sand Island is depicted.
mssHM 19340
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[Views of Catalina Island]
Visual Materials
This is a collection primarily of negatives and photographic prints depicting the growth of Santa Monica and Los Angeles, California, from 1860s to 1980s. Many views are cityscapes or street views, showing buildings, storefronts, homes and roads, and documenting the use of railroads, trolleys, streetcars, and automobiles. There are many card photographs by early professional photographers, and also a number of snapshots made by amateurs, some in personal photo albums. The collection's scope also includes early views of many other communities in Southern California (and a few in other states); the beginnings of aviation in Santa Monica, including the first Douglas Aircraft Company buildings; a photo album of residents in Topanga Canyon, ca. 1913; automobile racing in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, 1920s; maritime views; a photo album of U.S. troops in France during World War I; a 1949 real estate development in Apple Valley, California, and others. Besides photographs, a portion of the collection consists of scarce publications and historical ephemera, primarily related to Santa Monica and Los Angeles, including brochures, advertising cards, menus, event programs and other materials. Highlights of the Santa Monica images are aerial views of the buildings along the coast and pier (1920s); several views of the Arcadia Hotel (1880s); the Long Wharf and adjoining railroad and train depot; the first bath houses on the beach; the beach club culture of the 1920s and 1930s; the amusement piers of Santa Monica, Ocean Park and Venice; and the beginnings of the Douglas Aircraft Company. There is a large set of promotional photographs made late 1920s-1930s by Powell Press Service depicting people enjoying Santa Monica's beaches, clubs and outdoor recreation. An important subset within the collection is 407 negatives made ca. 1890 - 1908 by Los Angeles historian and amateur photographer George W. Hazard (1842-1914). Hazard travelled around Los Angeles and vicinity photographing the adobes, houses, streets and storefronts that told the early history of the city. Many of Hazard's negatives have handwritten identifications, naming streets, former homeowners, ranchos, and other historical details. There are a large number of cabinet cards and other card-mounted prints and stereographs. There are 1,264 stereograph prints, highlighted by the works of photographic pioneers William M. Godfrey, Francis Parker, Hayward & Muzzall, and Carleton Watkins. Other formats represented are: glass and film negatives; panoramic prints; 7 photograph albums, photographic postcards, 20th-century color prints and transparencies; and a small number of tintypes, cyanotypes and a set of chromolithographs.
photCL 555