Inventory of the San Francisco Photographers Photograph Collection, ca. 1865-1920 (bulk Collection No. LHL-HR-0002 Lucretia Hanson Little History Room Mill Valley Public Library Mill Valley, CA 94941
Descriptive Summary Repository Lucretia Hanson Little History Room Mill Valley Public Library 375 Throckmorton Ave. Mill Valley, CA 94941 (415) 389-4292 ext. 104 hist@cityofmillvalley.org http://www.millvalleylibrary.org/index.aspx?page=17 Collector Mill Valley Public Library. Lucretia Hanson Little History Room Title San Francisco Photographers Photograph Collection, ca. 1865-1920 (bulk Extent 7 Items Abstract A collection of photographic portraits of the first Town Clerk, the relatives of John Reed, and a view of San Rafael, CA. Administrative Information Arrangement This collection was created by the Lucretia Hanson Little History Room. The original photographs in this collection are not currently arranged by collection but by subject matter. Access Restrictions Collection is open for research. Original materials may be viewed with permission from staff. Digital copies of materials may be available. Materials in this collection do not circulate. Privacy rights, copyright, and other licensing restrictions may limit reproductive uses for this collection. Please see contact staff before visiting the History Room to use this collection. Copyright Notice Copyright for Mill Valley Public Library and Lucretia Hanson Little History Room records is held by Mill Valley Public Library; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these records, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation [Identification of item], San Francisco Photographers Photograph Collection, ca. 1865-1920 (bulk, Lucretia Hanson Little History Room, Mill Valley Public Library. Provenance The date that Lucretia Hanson Little donated her photographs to the History Room is unknown, but was probably ca. 1977. It is unknown by whom or when the rest of the photographs were contributed. It is also unknown when the History Room received a copy of a photograph from the Bancroft Library. Processing Information Processed by Alexandria Brown, May 2011 Encoded by Alexandria Brown, May 2011 Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, and local Style Guide. Biographical Note Bradley and Rulofson Henry William Bradley (1813-04/27/1891), American, lived in Wilmington, NC, and New Orleans, LA, before opening a studio in San Francisco in February 1850 at Clay and Kearny Streets, which closed eight years later. William Herman Rulofson (09/27/1826-11/02/1878), Canadian-American, came to California during the Gold Rush to mine in Sonora. He later started the first permanent photograph gallery in the state and travelled with a daguerreotype wagon with his partner John B. Cameron to take photos of miners. In 1861 Bradley moved his studio to 622 Clay St. and two years later he took on Rulofson. They also bought the Robert H. Vance portrait gallery at 429 Montgomery St. With heavy advertising, endorsements and projects with photographic heavy weights like Eadward James Muybridge and Vance, innovations, and the release of several books and catalogues Bradley and Rulofson became one of the most preeminent studios in the country. Bradley closed his supply house and retired after Rulofson s death and lived in Alameda until his own death. Charles Lake Cramer Charles Lake Cramer (1835-1911), Canadian, was active in San Francisco from 1863-1906. He came west in 1854 or 1855 with the Gibson wagon train. By 1863 the census reported his personal assets worth $300, or about $5000 today. He and Wilbur Fisk Bayley started the photographic gallery Bayley and Cramer in 1865 at 618 and 620 Washington St. which ran until 1868. Shortly thereafter he operated his own studio, Cramer's California Gallery, at 402 Kearny St. which ran until abound 1902. He had three children, only one of which survived into adulthood. His wife Melida co-ran the gallery and their son Frank assisted as a photographic printer. Cramer was
one of the state's longest practicing photographers. He retired in 1906 and died in 1911, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in San Francisco. Eadward Muybridge Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904), English, came to the United States in 1852 and was commissioned by the government to photograph the Pacific Coast. His photographs of Yosemite made him famous, and he later became one of the first people to photograph Alaska. He worked for Bradley and Rulofson in 1870. In 1872 he took a series of photographs of a horse to satisfy a $25,000 bet between Leland Stanford and a friend that a horse lifted all four hooves from the ground when galloping. In 1877 Stanford funded more photographs to capture movement which inspired Muybridge to develop an electronic synchronization device for taking photographs. He was granted a patent for the electro-expositor in 1883. Muybridge then adapted the zoetrope into the zoopraxiscope and toured the East Coast in the early 1880s demonstrating his photographic experiments. Thomas Edison improved upon the zoopraxiscope, creating the kinetoscope. The work of Muybridge and others inspired Edison to develop motion pictures. Edouart and Cobb Alexander Edouart (1818-1892), English, was the son of Auguste Edourat, a Londonbased silhouettist. Edouart studied art in Italy before living in New York City from 1848-1850. In 1852 he went west to California and began painting landscapes. He moved to Los Angeles in 1889 or 1890, and died there two years later. David Cobb (1841-?), Canadian, working in San Francisco from 1863-1865, in Grass Valley, CA in 1866, and was back in San Francisco from 1869-1889. In 1869 the men formed their gallery and by 1870 it was capitalized for $2000 or around $33000 today. The gallery ran until 1881 when Cobb left to set up Cobb's Dore Gallery at 1114 Market St. until 1889. Scope and Content Note This collection contains two photographic portraits taken by Bradley and Rulofson, three photographic portraits by Edouart and Cobb, one photographic portrait by Charles Lake Cramer, and one location photograph by Eadweard Muybridge. Subject Headings Library of Congress subject headings: Bradley and Rulofson Landing ships Muybridge, Eadweard, 1830-1904 Photographs Portrait photography Rulofson, William Herman San Rafael (Calif.) Ship Lucretia Hanson Little History Room index terms: Portraits J Janes Family
Portraits R Reed Family San Rafael Description of Collection Series: San Francisco Photographers Photograph Collection, ca. 1865-1920 (bulk Subseries 1: Bradley and Rulofson Item: MVU3640 Title: Clotilde Reed (1859-1940), 1887 Item: MVU3642 Title: Louis Janes at 18 years of age, 1884 Subseries 2: Edouart and Cobb Item: MVU3637 Title: Carmelita Natividad Garcia (1845-1906), ca. 1865 Item: MVU3638 Title: Carmelita Natividad Garcia Boyle (1845-1906), ca. 1879 Item: MVU3641 Title: John Paul Reed (1865-1919), 1880 Subseries 3: Eadweard Muybridge Item: MVU3158 Title: Lumber schooner at Ross Landing in San Rafael, CA, ca. 1874 Contributor: Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley Subseries 4: Charles Lake Cramer Item: MVU3636 Title: Hugh Boyle I (1843-1891), ca. 1865