Old Sacramento 1849 scene photographs of etchings and drawings album
Finding aid created by California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives staff using RecordEXPRESS
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
2020
111 I Street
Sacramento, California 95814
(916) 323-8073
Library.CSRM@parks.ca.gov
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Title: Old Sacramento 1849 scene photographs of etchings and drawings album
Dates: 1848-1852
Collection Number: MS 830
Creator/Collector:
Cooper, G. V.
Extent: 1 album
Repository:
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Sacramento, California 95814
Abstract: Photographs of etchings and drawings of Old Sacramento between 1848-1852.
Language of Material: English
Open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.
Old Sacramento 1849 scene photographs of etchings and drawings album. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Biography/Administrative History
The 1849 scene is a project which involves the complete reconstruction of buildings which, for the most part, have not existed
for 120 years. Few written accounts exist which give explicit descriptions of the structures. Graphic materials which depict
the 1849 Scene are scarce. Early photographs are unknown with the exception of one taken of J.L.L.F. Warren's New England
Seed Store before it burned in the great fire of November 1852. What historians do have to work with are sketches, lithographs,
woodcuts, and engravings done by early day visitors to Sacramento city.
Unlike photographs, these types of graphic materials are subject to the interpretation of the artist. And too, some artists
who never visited Sacramento city copied the work of those who did. There are, in some cases, a multitude of versions, of
the same scene, all taken from one primary sketch. In particular, this is true of many versions of the view originally sketched
by G. V. Cooper. Many of these have been included in the following collection of plates.
Scope and Content of Collection
The following collection of photographs of these graphic materials represents as complete an assemblage as possible of Sacramento
views from 1848-1852, including a few significant views of the 1849 Scene subsequent to that time. Whenever information was
available about the artists and publishers, it has been included. This helps to establish the credibility of the view.
Each photograph of an etching or drawing has a full description included with it. As an example: Plate 7 is titled "Sacramento,
early in 1849. Front, between I and J Streets." This follows with more information.
[Album 88]
California -- Sacramento