A collection of 50 mammoth plate photographs of Yosemite, the New Almaden Mine, and Mendocino, California by American photographer Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916). The prints were in a two-volume set, now disbound, containing a title page dated 1863 and a dedication page reading: "To Ernest Frignet / His California Friends / April 1864." The photographs are landscape views of Yosemite and the Mariposa giant sequoias, taken by Watkins in 1861, followed by 1863 views of New Almaden Quicksilver Mine and Mendocino, both in Northern California.

Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916) was born in 1829 in Oneonta, New York. In 1851, he migrated to Sacramento, California in the company of businessman Collis P. Huntington and several other residents of Oneonta. He began his photographic career as an apprentice to established San Francisco Bay area studio photographers Robert H. Vance (1825–1876) and James May Ford (c. 1827–1877).

20 Linear Feet (8 boxes). 50 mammoth plate photographs in 2 volumes (disbound): albumen prints; size of prints varies, approximately 40 x 53 cm; volumes each 53 x 67 cm

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RESTRICTED. Photographs are fragile and only available with curatorial approval. Please view digital surrogates.