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California History collection highlighted in
prominent publications
As they do with many libraries with regional history
collections, writers, publishers, and producers
regularly turn to the California State Library (CSL)
for photographic gems to stunningly illustrate their
projects. In just the past year 230 of the
historical images housed in the CSL’s California
History section have found their way into deluxe
“coffee table” books, historical documentaries,
textbooks, and more.
Mt. Broderick and Nevada Falls, Yosemite Valley,
Mammoth plate albunen photograph featured in
Art of an American Icon: Yosemite, [Watkins,
Carleton E. ca. 1865]
CSL photos were
showcased in items like
Art of an American Icon:
Yosemite
published jointly by the University of California
Press and Autry National Center. The book includes
a chapter by CSL Special Collections Curator Gary
F. Kurutz on pioneer photography in the great
valley. And many CSL images were selected to
illustrate the book.
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African American gold miner in Auburn Ravine, 1852
[Daguerreotype]
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Windgate
Press of Sausalito has made extensive use of the
CSL’s rich pictorial resources to publish such
elegant books as
The Architectural Terra Cotta of Gladding McBean;
California Calls You: The Art of Promoting the
Golden State; A Southern California Album: Selected
Photographs, 1880-1920;
and
Mt. Shasta Camera: The Photographs of Charles R.
Miller.
All of
these award-winning titles were based primarily on
CSL collections. Presently, the Windgate Press is
producing a book on art deco architecture in
Southern California. The CSL’s Mott Studios
Collection is the primary resource for what promises
to be a spectacular volume.
Gold Rush miners with woman in Auburn Ravine, 1852
[Daguerreotype]
Photos of diverse Californians most popular
According to Kathy Correia, the CSL supervising
librarian who handles many CSL photo requests,
California History’s most requested items are
daguerreotypes of Gold Rush miners, such as the
1852 image of people in Auburn ravine. Correia
says the daguerreotypes are in great demand
because they show ethnic diversity in the
minefields (They also show a woman which is
rare). Gary Kurutz explains, ”Modern historians
and writers have discovered the important
contributions of California’s amazingly varied
pioneers who rushed here from all points of the
globe.” The CSL
daguerreotype
of an African American
miner is featured in Blacks in the California
Gold Rush by Rudy Lapp.
Need for historic photos comes in “waves”
Correia reports that image requests come in
“waves” paralleling historical events and
anniversaries. In early 2006, just before the 100th
anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake,
Correia says the California History Section was
“swamped with earthquake and fire requests.“ The
CSL’s 1906 photos appeared in dailies from the San
Francisco Chronicle to the San Diego
Tribune as well as in
exhibits at the California State Capitol,
and on the
Bancroft Library commemorative website
of the 1906 earthquake and fire.
CSL photograph shows destruction of 1906
earthquake and fire of San Francisco.
Reprint process protects CSL treasures
The CSL’s some 130,000 images are in the California
History Room’s temperature controlled storage
areas. Customers may view approximately 12,000
digitized images on the
picture catalog or they may visit the California
History Room to see thousands more images. If
customers wish to have reproductions made of an
image, customers can view price lists and additional
information on the CSL webpage or contact the
California History Room for more information at
(916) 654-0176.
If customers wish to use an image in a book,
publication, exhibit or website, they need to
request permission to use the item. Additional
information is on the California History webpage at:
http://www.library.ca.gov/CalHist/index.cfm.
For more information about purchasing reproductions
or using images from the California History Room’s
collection please contact Kathy Correia at (916)
653-0771 or email at
kcorreia@library.ca.gov. |
