Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biography/Administrative History
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Series Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Edward Vischer Papers
Dates: 1804-1933
Bulk Dates: 1860-1878
Collection number: 921
Creator:
Vischer, Edward, 1809-1878
Extent:
2.58 Linear feet
(2 document boxes and 25 items of printed materials)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library. Claremont, CA 91711
Abstract: Includes four published portfolios, The Mammoth Tree Grove (1862), The Washoe Mining Region (1862), Pictorial of California
Landscape (1870), and Missions of Upper California (1872), along with an important file of original Vischer drawings and paintings;
two scrapbooks of California scenes; numerous volumes of California scenes; and items about Vischer. Many items from this
collection have been digitized and can be found in the "Edward Vischer Drawings, Photographs and Other Material" collection
in the Claremont Colleges Digital Library (CCDL) - http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/col/vdp.
Physical Location: Please consult repository.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English, Spanish and German
Administrative Information
Access
This collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Edward Vischer Papers. Special Collections, Honnold Mudd Library, Claremont University Consortium.
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Mrs. Frederick Hellman, 1960.
Accruals
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Alternative Forms of Material Available
Digital collection available via the Claremont Colleges Digital Library (CCDL): Edward Vischer Drawings, Photographs and Other
Material - http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/col/vdp/.
Processing Information
Arranged and processed by Special Collections staff.
Biography/Administrative History
Edward Vischer (1809–1878) as a young man of nineteen emigrated from Germany to Mexico where he was associated with the commercial
house of Heinrich Virmond. In the employ of Virmond, or other German-Latin American companies, he acted as supercargo on many
trading voyages to west-coast ports of the Americas and to the Orient.
In 1842, he became interested in California and agreed to travel there for Virmond. It was in this way that Vischer first
came to know the region, anchoring at Monterey, taking an excursion northwest to the port of Yerba Buena, and visiting Santa
Barbara and Los Angeles. On this visit he fell in love with California. He gladly returned to San Francisco where he was active
in currency exchange operations, acted as agent for German-Mexican firms, as marine forwarding agent, as real estate agent,
and as a mortgage banker.
At the age of fifty, Vischer became intensely interested in sketching and painting. He is best known for his pencil sketches
of California landscapes throughout the 1860s and 1870s. He sketched a wide variety of scenes and objects, but most commonly
the California missions, trees, mountains, and rural scenes. Of special interest are his drawings of the ruins of the missions,
the Washoe mining region, horses and wagons, including the Pony Express, and even camels which were part of a short lived
military experiment to import them into California.
He combined with these interests a skill in photography. It was his practice to make rapid sketches on the spot of scenes
which interested him, the big trees, the ruins of Missions, or mining operations, and later to work up these sketches in water
color, pencil, pen or crayon. Subsequently he reproduced his drawing, first by lithography and later by photography. Beginning
with the conventional method of lithography, Vischer became frustrated with the lack of detail and print quality, the expenses
involved, and, eventually, the breaking of a stone mid production. At this point, Vischer began exploring the use of photography
to reproduce his artwork. After briefly experimenting with the medium himself, Vischer soon employed George H. Johnson, a
professional photographer, to photograph his artwork for his publications. These albumen prints of his artwork were used to
create bound publications that were primarily sold through subscriptions.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Includes four published portfolios, The Mammoth Tree Grove (1862), The Washoe Mining Region (1862), Pictorial of California
Landscape (1870), and Missions of Upper California (1872), along with an important file of original Vischer drawings and paintings;
two scrapbooks of California scenes; numerous volumes of California scenes; and items about Vischer.
Collection is arranged into 6 series. The first series contains original sketches and prints of Vischer's works. The second
series contains a variety of miscellanea including photographs, handwritten letters, and ephemera. The third series contains
materials that were found laid in front and back of one of printed volumes. These materials are mostly manuscripts, prints
and photographs with some broadsides. Two scrapbooks inscribed by Vischer to William H. Hilton comprise the fourth series.
The fifth series contains various plates, mostly from "Vischer's Pictorial of California". However, there are a few plates
that could not be found in any of Vischer's books. The last series, series 6, contains printed materials. Here is where the
four published portfolios, additional variations of those portfolios and other printed matter written about Vischer can be
found.
Series Arrangement
The collection is arranged into 6 series:
- Series 1: Sketches and prints
- Subseries 1: Original sketches
- Subseries 2: Prints
- Series 2: Miscellanea
- Series 3: Materials found laid in front and back of "Missions of Upper California"
- Series 4: Scrapbooks inscribed by Vischer to Wm. H. Hilton
- Series 5: Plates
- Series 6: Printed materials
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subject Headings
California
California--History
California--Pictorial works
Frontier and pioneer life--West (U.S.)
Missions, Spanish--California--History
Vischer, Edward, 1809-1878
West (U.S.)--History--19th Century
Genre and Form of Materials
Broadsides
Drawing
Photographs
Publications
Scrapbooks