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Graphics at the Argonaut,
Page 2
Placing
an Order
For assistance or to place an order please click on the
following link to send us an email. Remember to include
full particulars of the item as well as your email
address and/or phone number. Alternatively, you may phone [1] 415-474-9067. Thank you for your
consideration.
Orders: Book_Orders@PacBell.net
MORE PRINTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, & MAPS WILL BE ADDED AS TIME PERMITS
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CALIFORNIA AS AN
ISLAND
ROBERT DE VAUGONDY, Didier. Carte de la
Californie Suivant... 29x39 cm. Black and white copper engraving, later
hand-coloring. A fine copy. Paris: Diderot, 1770. $1,500.
This map was issued in an atlas to accompany Diderot’s
Encyclopedie. It gives a graphic summary of the peninsula from 1604 to 1767.
This significant map includes five representations of California on the one
sheet representing its delineation at various times, with view II showing
California as an island. Included are Carte Manuscrit of 1604, Sanson’s
representation of 1656, De L’isle’s of 1700, Father Kino’s of 1705 and the
Society of Jesuits representation of 1767. Sanson’s representation shows
California as an island with an indented northern coastline and many
coastal place names. [Leighly: 177 (plate xxiv); McLaughlin: 241; Tooley: 100;
Wagner: 637; Wheat: 160].
CALIFORNIA'S MAMMOTH
TREE GROVE, CALAVERAS COUNTY
[MAMMOTH TREE
GROVE]. The Mammoth Tree Grove. Calaveras County. 1855. Hand-colored
facsimile print. 8x14½
inches plus borders and title. Short (half inch) tear to bottom blank border,
lower right corner slightly clipped, but a beautiful copy with wide borders. San
Francisco: John Howell Books, 1935. $125.
A facsimile of the very rare original lithograph. The original image was
sketched by T. A. Ayres, drawn on stone by Kuchel & Dresel, and lithographed by
Britton and Rey. The facsimile offered here was reproduced by the successors of
Britton & Rey in 1935 for John Howell, a San Francisco Bookseller. The facsimile
was issued only in black & white. Our copy has later hand-coloring and is quite
lovely.
RARE BIRD’S-EYE-VIEW OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA
[STOCKTON].
Stockton Looking East. San Joaquin
County, Cal. Original Bird’s-Eye-View
lithograph. 24x38 inches. Lithographed in black on white. A fine, crisp copy.
San Francisco: Sketched by C.P. Cook; Lithographed by W.W. Elliott, n.d.
(c.1890). $3,250.
A magnificent bird’s-eye view showing all of the city of
Stockton, California and surrounding country. All of the streets and roads are
labeled. Surrounding the view are 26 insets showing public and commercial
buildings. Includes promotional text for the city as well as an index of
significant buildings and places keyed by number to the view. W.W. Elliott is
best known for his views in a number of the county histories produced in the
1870’s and 1880’s. Unlike many lithographers of similar views of that period,
Elliott had a knack for artistic shading which gave his images a wonderful
quality of depth and clarity. This lithograph is quite scarce and is rarely
offered It is not mentioned in Peters’ California on Stone.
FACSIMILE OF AN ORIGINAL AND VERY
RARE BIRD'S-EYE-VIEW
[SAN FRANCISCO].
View of the Town and Harbour of San Francisco, California from the Signal
Hill. 19¼
x 30 inches. Drawn on stone by W. Boosey from a sketch by Capt. Collinson, R. E.
Lithographed by M. & N. Hanhart. London: Ackermann & Co., 96 Strand, November
12, 1851. $25. [shipping extra]
A facsimile of the extremely rare
bird’s-eye-view originally published in 1851,
reproduced by John Howell Books in 1983 and printed on thick art paper. The
image shows hundreds of abandoned ships in the harbor, viewed from Signal Hill.
“Signal Hill” was what is now Telegraph Hill and was named in the 1850’s after
the erection of a semaphore to announce the arrival of ships. This type of
lithographed view was common from about 1850 through the turn of the century.
Many cities throughout the nation were represented by these bird’s-eye-views,
so-called because they showed a particular city as if viewed from the sky above.
Today, original images are extremely rare and very scarce, and bring thousands
of dollars when offered on the antiquarian market.
Shown here is the city of San Francisco as it looked during the Gold
Rush years. During that period, hundreds of Clippers and other sailing vessels
reached the port of San Francisco. Although considered mutiny, the crews of
these ships abandoned their duties and “escaped” to the gold fields. Thus, about
600 to 900 sailing vessels were abandoned in the Bay. On the East coast, the
ship’s owners simply wrote off the abandoned ships. Eventually, wharfs were
built for access and many of the abandoned ships were turned into warehouses,
saloons, or whatever the enterprising citizenry could think of.
Eventually, the entire area of ships shown in the view was filled in
to expand the boundaries of the city. The abandoned ships were simply scuttled
and filled over. Today, when construction of a new skyscraper is begun in that
area of San Francisco, the initial excavation might certainly hit upon one of
these abandoned and buried ships. At that point, the marine archaeologists come
in and the work on the new building stops until the particular ship is examined
and ultimately excavated.
THE "CASTLE" - SAN FRANCISCO'S TELEGRAPH HILL OBSERVATORY
[TELEGRAPH HILL -
SAN FRANCISCO]. The Telegraph Hill Observatory. San Francisco, Cal.
Large hand-colored facsimile lithograph. 15.5 x
24.5 inches plus ample borders. San Francisco: Steven A. Waterson, 1972.
$300.
Magnificent hand-colored facsimile lithograph
of San Francisco's Telegraphy Hill Observatory. In 1972, "Historic Lithographs
of San Francisco" was published by Waterson for the firm of Burger & Evans. This
massive undertaking was illustrated with 47 full-size facsimile lithographs,
originally published in the mid to late 19th century.
The stated limitation of the work was
1000 copies. In fact, less than 150 copies were ever completed. Mr. William
Burger has stated that no more than 120 copies of this book were produced. The
hand-colored image offered here is from that production. Very scarce! The
Telegraph Hill Observatory opened in July of 1882. It was destroyed by fire on
July 25, 1903. The original lithograph of this image was published in the late
19th century. Today, that original lithograph is extremely rare and would easily bring 20 times
our price for this lovely hand-colored facsimile, printed on high-quality heavy
paper.
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