Scope and Contents From the Collection: The collection consists of California lettersheets, mostly pictorial, created approximately between the years 1850 and 1870, with the bulk dating from the 1850s. Pictorial lettersheets are illustrated with lithographs or wood engravings depicting California and Western themes. Intended to be used as stationery during and after the California Gold Rush, these lettersheets served as a kind of reportage, depicting important events and popular stories of the day. Common illustrated topics and...

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Depicts San Francisco's Fourth of July parade, with men on foot and horseback, and a large contingent of Chinese celebrants.

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Depicts Washington's Birthday celebration in Portsmouth Square, with buildings in the background, including "El Dorado," "The Union," and City Hall.

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View to the west of the burnt area, showing empty lots and the shells of destroyed buildings. Signs for Dewitt & Harrison, Edward H. Parker, Wm. T. Coleman & Co., and Bingham Reynolds Bart [cut off] appear on saved buildings to the right.

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View of the town of Sonora, with hills in the background, and a group of miners, possibly Chilean or Mexican, in the foreground.

Scope and Contents From the Collection: The collection consists of California lettersheets, mostly pictorial, created approximately between the years 1850 and 1870, with the bulk dating from the 1850s. Pictorial lettersheets are illustrated with lithographs or wood engravings depicting California and Western themes. Intended to be used as stationery during and after the California Gold Rush, these lettersheets served as a kind of reportage, depicting important events and popular stories of the day. Common illustrated topics and...

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Shows miners at leisure: reading, writing, washing, horseracing, drinking, and fighting.

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Shows four ships in the Bay of Aratscha, identified as the Virago, La Forte, L'Obligado, and The President.

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Panoramic view of San Francisco from Nob Hill looking east, with a group of Chinese people in the foreground at left.

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View of San Francisco, looking from Russian Hill toward the bay, on letterhead dated 187[ ]. Broadway and Vallejo Streets are identified in pen.