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WHAT'S
NEW...
Foundation
Commissions Painting for Braille & Talking Book Reading Room
Dedication of The Michael O'Shaughnessy Rotunda
FEATURED
ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY’S COLLECTIONS THROUGH FOUNDATION ASSISTANCE
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The Triumph of Helios: Photographic Treasures of the California
State Library
The Foundation is pleased to make available a beautiful catalog
created for a special exhibition held in the University Library
Gallery of Sacramento State University. Beautifully designed
by Angela Tannehill, the catalog includes descriptions of representative
examples of a wide variety of early photographic technology
including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, mammoth plate
landscape views, stereographs, glass positives, orotones, and
books and ephemera illustrated with original photographs. Works
by such masters as C. E. Watkins and Eadweard Muybridge are
featured. Curator of Special Collections Gary F. Kurutz wrote
the introduction and catalog descriptions; Professor Roger Vail
of Sacramento State University supplied a foreword; and Heather
Mosqueda of the university provided short biographies of the
major artists. |
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1.
Bitter Strength. This bronze statue commemorates the
heroic efforts of the Chinese in building the transcontinental
railroad. It was created by Utah artist Edward Fraughton and
donated to the Foundation by the Frank Fat family of Sacramento.
It is located in the Mead B. Kibbey Exhibit Gallery, Library
& Courts II Building, 900 N Street. |
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2.
Allegory by Maynard Dixon. Painted by the noted California
artist between 1932 and 1935, it was donated by Marcia and
Robin Williams of San Francisco. It is presently located in
the office of the California State Librarian. |
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3.
Gullick Brother''s Daguerreotypes. This half-plate
daguerreotype is one of three mirror images of Benicia, the
port city on the Carquinez Strait, donated to the Library
by the important cased image collector Stephen Anaya of Santa
Monica. Included in his gift are 14 family portraits. Benicia
at the time these images were made served as the state capital
of California. |
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4.
Daguerreotype of Theodore D. Judah. Purchased with the
assistance of Mead B. Kibbey and Robert Gordon, this sixth-plate
daguerreotype is a portrait of the famed engineer as a young
man. Judah later went on in the 1860s and surveyed the route
of the Central Pacific Railroad over the formidable Sierra Nevada
Range. |
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5.
Map of Folsom City, c. 1855. Through the generosity of
Mrs. Robert C. Baker of Fair Oaks and her daughter, Cindy Baker,
the Library’s California History Section received an important
manuscript map of Folsom drawn around 1855 by famed railroad
engineer Theodore D. Judah (1828–1863). Mrs. Baker donated
the map in memory of her late husband. Measuring 22 x 36 inches,
drawn on silk and entitled “Map of the Town of Folsom California,”
Judah’s manuscript is significant in that it is probably
the first to delineate the future town and it documents the
route of the Sacramento Valley Rail Road (S.V.R.R.) at its eastern
terminus. The S.V.R.R., although short-lived, ranks as the oldest
passenger railroad in the western United States. |
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6.
Kelmscott Chaucer. Printed and designed by William
Morris with illustrations by Edward Burne-Jones, the Chaucer
is heralded as one of the most important books ever printed.
The Foundation purchased this volume in celebration of the
Library’s 150th anniversary. |
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7.
United States County Histories. Through the gift of the
Larson Trust, the Foundation is able to buy for the Sutro Library
in San Francisco valuable and rare county histories from the
eastern United States. Published in the 19th and early 20th
centuries, these histories contain much valuable information
on communities and individuals. Many contain maps and are illustrated
with engravings of towns, business blocks, and homes. |
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8.
Photographs of Santa Barbara & Vicinity. California
bibliographer Dennis Kruska donated over 200 vintage photographs
of Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties for
the California History Section. Nineteenth century photographs
from this region are rare. Mr. Kruska donated the photographs
in memory of his friend, Clifton F. Smith. |
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9.
The Saul and Lillian Marks Albion Press. In 1983, the
Foundation purchased the Albion iron press used by the famed
Plantin Press of Saul and Lillian Marks of Los Angeles. The
press itself was manufactured in London in 1852. The Foundation,
under the able direction of Robert Dickover, has used the press
for demonstrations and printing keepsakes. The Library has an
excellent collection of Plantin Press books and ephemera. |
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10.
Gladding, McBean & Company Archive. Donated to the
Foundation for the benefit of the Library by Pacific Coast Building
Products, this archive contains the historical record of one
of the most prominent manufacturers of architectural terra cotta.
The archive includes over 10,000 photographs, job order records
on over 7,000 jobs including the Los Angeles City Hall, Bullock's
Wilshire, War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, and the
State Library & Courts Building in Sacramento, and tile
drawings for dozens of projects in California. Shown here is
a photograph made from a glass plate negative of an ornament
for the Knickerbocker Building in Los Angeles, 1913. |
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Foundation
Commissions Painting for Braille & Talking Book Reading
Room
11.
On October 3, 2001 the California State Library Foundation
and the Braille and Talking Book Library (BTBL) held a reception
honoring two new pieces of art installed in the BTBL Reading
Room. "On the Sacramento River" a large painting
by noted Sacramento artist Gregory Kondos and a bronze bas-relief
reproduction of the painting, were made possible by generous
contributions from patrons and supporters of the Braille and
Talking Book Library.
A large wall in the BTBL Reading Room had remained blank since
the library had moved into the new Library and Courts II building
in 1994. The wall receives lots of natural light from the
curved windows on the opposite wall that look out on the lovely
fragrance garden designed especially for BTBL patrons. BTBL
Program Manager, Donine Hedrick, had always planned for a
special display piece for the Reading Room wall. Finally,
in the spring of 2000, Donine came up with an ingenious idea.
How about a painting by the well-known landscape artist, Gregory
Kondos? Donine found out from Julia Schaw, the CSL Foundation’s
Assistant Director, that Gregory had a studio in downtown
Sacramento.
On
April 22, 2000, Donine was visiting the studio building and
took the opportunity to ask about Mr. Kondos. He just happened
to be out in the parking area at that time. Donine approached
Gregory, told him her idea and the rest is history. Gregory
visited the BTBL Reading Room at the end of June and submitted
a proposal for a study and painting. The Kondos proposal was
accepted by the Foundation Board at a meeting on September
15, 2000. The California State Library Foundation now owns
two original oil paintings (including the study) and the bas-relief.
The large river landscape measures twelve feet in length and
five feet high. Bruce Beck of the Governor’s Mansion
museum installed the oil in August. The Foundation also purchased
the complete reproduction rights to "On The Sacramento
River". Plans are being made on ways to use the image
to support the ongoing work of the CSL Foundation.
BTBL
librarian Aimee Sgourakis conceived the idea of the bronze
bas-relief for the benefit of the visually impaired. The inscription
includes both braille and large print letters. Jack Barrett,
a member of the Foundation, created a handsome pedestal to
support the 85-pound bronze.
The painting and bronze are on public view in the BTBL Reading
Room on the first floor of the Library & Courts II Building
at 900 N Street, Sacramento. The reading room is open Monday
through Friday from 9:30 to 4:00. |
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DEDICATION
OF THE MICHAEL O’SHAUGHNESSY ROTUNDA
12.
On April 21, 2001, State Librarian of California Dr. Kevin
Starr dedicated the rotunda of the Library & Courts II
Building (900 N Street) in honor of the famed San Francisco
City Engineer Michael Maurice O’Shaughnessy. The estate
of Elizabeth O’Shaughnessy presented the Foundation with
a most generous donation in memory of her parents, Michael
and Mary. Her donation will ensure the fiscal stability of
the Foundation for many years to come. Miss O’Shaughnessy
added the Foundation to her will because of the singular contribution
of Dr. Starr to California history. Mead Kibbey of the Board
of Directors skillfully negotiated the gift with the estate’s
legal counsel.
The
dedication ceremony included the placement of a bronze bust
of Mr. O’Shaughnessy in the rotunda. Irish artist Don
Cronin created the bust. Another copy of the bust was placed
in the San Francisco City Hall.
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