Watkins (Carleton E.) Mammoth Plate Photographs of Yosemite, New Almaden Mine and the Mendocino Coast, California

Vol. 1. Yo-semite Valley / Photographic Views of the Falls and Valley of Yo-semite in Mariposa County, California 1861-1864

Physical Description: (Disbound) title page, dedication page, and 30 photographs (Vol. 1, plates 1 - 30).

Scope and Contents

Watkins made these photographs in Yosemite in 1861, with a camera he made himself to hold glass plate negatives measuring 18 x 22 inches, which was the largest size ever used at that time. The photographs are scenic landscape views of Yosemite Valley, including rivers, waterfalls, massive granite cliffs and boulders, and giant sequoia trees in the Mariposa Grove. One view depicts naturalist Galen Clark (1814-1910) standing in front of the ancient sequoia called Grizzly Giant.

General

All titles are transcribed from the item. Watkins' numbers and dates of photographs are from the catalog raisonné by Weston Naef and Christine Hult-Lewis, Carleton Watkins: The Complete Mammoth Photographs (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum), 2011.(Cited below as Naef.)

Box 1

Vol. 1. Original album covers and end pages

Vol. 1. Album covers and end pages

Physical Description: This box contains only the original leather covers and end pages of volume 1. Note that for this volume only, boards were adhered to the covers to form a portfolio box by Huntington Library conservators, approximately 1970s.

Box 2

Vol. 1. Title and dedication pages; Plates 1-9

Item Vol. 1, Leaf 1

Title page in decorative calligraphy reading: Yo-semite Valley / Photographic Views of the Falls and Valley of Yo-semite in Mariposa County, California / Executed by C. E. Watkins of San Francisco / San Francisco, California / 1863

General

Written below title: "Executed by Fulgenzio Seregni, Professor of Penmanship and Drawing / No. 606 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California." Includes the state seal of California.

Item Vol. 1, Leaf 2

Dedication page reading: "To Ernest Frignet / His California Friends / April 1864"

Item Vol. 1, Plate 1

View on the Merced 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 41. Image size: 15 3/8 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 146.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 2

The Lake 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 72. Image size: 15 7/8 x 20 7/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 232.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 3

Cathedral Rock 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 20. Image size: 16 1/4 x 20 1/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 155.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 4

Yo Semite Fall (Lower view) 2630 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 49. Image size: 15 5/8 x 20 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 194.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 5

Camp Grove 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 45. Image size: 15 5/8 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 211.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 6

The Three Brothers 4480 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 27. Image size: 15 3/4 x 20 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 168.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 7

River View Cathedral Rock 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 31. Image size: 15 3/4 x 20 7/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 152.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 8

Yo Semite Falls (Upper View) 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 53. Image size: 16 1/4 x 20 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 196.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 9

El Capitan (near view) 3600 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 25. Image size:20 1/2 x 16 inches.

Note: Naef no. 132.

Box 3

Vol. 1. Plates 10-20

Item Vol. 1, Plate 10

Grizzly Giant Mariposa Grove 33 ft. diam. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 111. Image size: 15 3/4 x 20 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 103. Galen Clark standing at base of tree.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 11

Nevada Fall 700 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 90. Image size: 16 x 20 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 245.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 12

The Half Dome 4967 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 61. Image size: 15 1/4 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 218.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 13

Sentinel (View up the Valley) 3270 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 32. Image size: 20 1/8 x 16 1/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 181.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 14

View up the Valley 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 9. Image size: 15 3/8 x 20 1/2 inches.

Note: Naef no. 187.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 15

Bridal Veil Fall 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 15. Image size: 16 1/8 x 20 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 137.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 16

North Dome 3729 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 84. Image size: 16 x 20 3/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 236.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 17

Three Brothers (front view) 4480 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 34. Image size: 16 1/4 x 20 1/2 inches.

Note: Naef no. 175.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 18

Sentinel (front view) 3270 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 44. Image size: 16 1/4 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 184.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 19

El Capitan 3600 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 8. Image size: 16 x 20 3/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 130.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 20

Outline of the Half Dome. 4967 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 83. Image size: 15 3/4 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 223.

Box 4

Vol. 1. Plates 21-30

Item Vol. 1, Plate 21

Grizzly Giant (Mariposa Grove) 33 ft. diam. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 112. Image size: 15 7/8 x 20 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 101.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 22

Mount Broderick. Nevada Fall 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 89. Image size: 20 3/4 x 15 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 242.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 23

The Cascade 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 91. Image size: 21 x 15 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 246.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 24

North Dome. Royal Arches. Washington Column 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 79. Image size: 20 3/4 x 16 7/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 228.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 25

View from Camp Grove 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 47. Image size: 15 3/4 x 20 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 145.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 26

Sentinel (View down the Valley) 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 43. Image size: 16 1/4 x 20 1/2 inches.

Note: Naef no. 186.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 27

Cathedral Spires 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 24. Image size: 16 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 164.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 28

River View down the Valley 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 11. Image size: 20 3/4 x 15 3/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 148.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 29

Vernal Fall. 300 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 87. Image size: 20 5/8 x 15 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 239.

Item Vol. 1, Plate 30

Yo-Semite Falls (front view) 2630 ft. 1861

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 50. Image size: 20 5/8 x 15 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 195.

Vol. 2. New Almaden Quicksilver Mine 1863

Physical Description: (Disbound) title page and 8 photographs (Vol. 2, plates 1 - 8)

Scope and Contents

In 1863, Watkins was commissioned to photograph the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine near San Jose, California, by William Eustace Barron, a founding partner and San Francisco merchant. This group of 8 mammoth plate photographs depict the structures and works of the quicksilver (i.e. mercury) mine set among hillsides, including smelting furnaces, metal sheds, and paths leading to mine entrances. One view depicts about 40 workers at a quarry, including several adolescent boys posed with wheelbarrows. The miners' community of small houses and wooden shacks is also seen in views titled "Hacienda" and "The Town on the Hill."

General

All titles are transcribed from the item. Watkins' numbers and dates of photographs are from the catalog raisonné by Weston Naef and Christine Hult-Lewis, Carleton Watkins: The Complete Mammoth Photographs (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum), 2011.(Cited below as Naef.)

Box 5

Vol. 2. Original album covers and end pages

Physical Description: This box contains only the original leather covers and end pages of volume 2.

Box 6

Vol. 2. "New Almaden" title page; Plates 1-8

Item Vol. 2, Leaf 1

Title page: New Almaden Quicksilver Mine

General

Calligraphy signed "F. Seregni. San Francisco."

Item Vol. 2, Plate 1

General view of smelting works 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 130. Image size: 15 7/8 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 86.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 2

The new Fornaces [Furnaces] 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 126. Image size: 15 1/8 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 82.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 3

The Metal Shed 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 140. Image size: 15 1/4 x 20 1/2 inches.

Note: Naef no. 96.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 4

The Mine Peak 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 139. Image size: 15 3/4 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 91.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 5

The Hacienda (View East) 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 129. Image size: 15 3/4 x 20 3/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 85.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 6

The Town on the Hill 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 134. Image size: 15 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches.

Note: Naef no. 90. A sign can be seen on a wooden storefront reading "Bakery. Panaderia. de Larrecle[?]"

Item Vol. 2, Plate 7

The smelting works and Mine 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 127. Image size: 15 5/8 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 83.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 8

Street view at the Aciende [Hacienda] 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 123. Image size: 15 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches.

Note: Naef no. 79.

Vol. 2 Mendocino Coast Views 1863

Physical Description: (Disbound) title page and 12 photographs (Vol. 2, plates 9 - 20)

Scope and Contents

Watkins made these photographs in the fall of 1863, most likely on a commission from Jerome B. Ford, a major mill owner in Mendocino, California (Palmquist, p. 22). Views show lumber mills along the banks of Big River, Albion River, and Noyo River, near where they meet the Pacific Ocean. The coastal city of Mendocino is seen on top of a high beach cliff, and there are scenic views of ocean waves crashing against boulders. One river view shows men guiding a small ferry by holding a cable mounted across the river, and a log flume is seen suspended in the background. There is one view of Native Americans, possibly Pomo, seated in front of dwellings made from wooden planks. The house of "Mr. Chalfant" in the town, with a fenced yard, is the focus of another photograph, and there is one view of the Fort Bragg army post.

General

All titles are transcribed from the item. Watkins' numbers and dates of photographs are from the catalog raisonné by Weston Naef and Christine Hult-Lewis, Carleton Watkins: The Complete Mammoth Photographs (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum), 2011.(Cited below as Naef.)

Box 6

Vol. 2. "Mendocino" title page

Item Vol. 2, Leaf 2

Title page: Mendocino Coast Views

General

Calligraphy signed "F. Seregni, San Francisco, California."

Box 6.1

Vol. 2. Plate 9

Item Vol. 2, Plate 9

Cottage of Mr. Chalfant 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 174. Image size: 15 3/8 x 19 7/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 380.

Box 7

Vol 2. Plates 10-20

Item Vol. 2, Plate 10

Garrison at Fort Bragg 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 207. Image size: 15 3/8 x 20 1/2 inches.

Note: Naef no. 433.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 11

Big River Mill 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 167. Image size: 15 1/8 x 19 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 396.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 12

The Albion 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 153. Image size: 15 1/2 x 20 1/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 419. View of Albion River and lumber mill.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 13

The Noyo Mill 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 205. Image size: 15 7/8 x 20 1/2 inches.

Note: Naef no. 432.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 14

The City of Big River 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 182. Image size: 15 1/8 x 20 1/4 inches.

Note: Naef no. 385. View of Mendocino.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 15

The Rancherie. (Big River) 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 194. Image size: 15 1/8 x 20 1/2 inches.

Note: Naef no. 401. View of Native Americans (possibly Pomo) seated in front of plank dwellings.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 16

Noyo River 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 202. Image size: 14 7/8 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 429. View includes a small ferry guided by cable across river, and a log flume.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 17

Big River Harbour 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 169. Image size: 14 1/2 x 20 5/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 398.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 18

Noyo Bay 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 206. Image size: 15 3/8 x 20 3/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 425.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 19

Big River 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 170. Image size: 15 3/8 x 20 3/8 inches.

Note: Naef no. 399.

Item Vol. 2, Plate 20

Coast View (from the Albion River) 1863

Scope and Contents

Watkins no. 158. Image size: 14 7/8 x 19 7/8 inches

Note: Naef no. 412.