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At Auction: Los Angeles Imprints 1843 - 1873 - By Bruce McKinney The earliest LA printing - a handstamp By Bruce McKinney An interesting collection of rare Los Angeles imprints and ephemera comes to market on December 2nd in a sale organized by Johns' Western Gallery of San Francisco. The official title is Los Angeles Imprints: 1843 - 1873. This material was accumulated over a lifetime by Glen Dawson of Dawson Books, the firm that recently celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. For fussy collectors of obscuranta this is an opportunity to purchase material that in many cases has been unknown and until now undocumented. Collectors tend to think of books and images when creating a collection but it is the ephemera of an area and period that brings a collection to life. For collectors of Los Angeles, southern California, emerging cities and life in the period, this is an exceptional opportunity to acquire otherwise unobtainable material. The estimates are low. Item 1 is the earliest known "printing" in Los Angeles. It is an application to the prefect for 200 varas of vacant land in Los Angeles. It is estimated at $2,000 to $3,000. Today well over a million impressions come off Los Angeles presses every twenty-four hours. This is thought to be the first printed impression. Item 4 is the marriage announcement of Serefino Covarrubias and Isabel Sepulbeda in Los Angeles dated June 5, 1852. It is estimated $300 to $400, a sum certainly larger than the value of gifts received to celebrate the occasion. Item 13 is an invitation to "Baile de Solteros" and attributed to Los Angeles: 1854. It is estimated $400 to $700. You may have missed the dance but you can still get an invitation. Item 16. What is the value of a receipt for $15? Because it is a billhead from the Los Angeles firm Butts & Wheeler for job printing and dated November, 1854 it is expected to bring $350 to $450. Keep your receipts! Your Visa bill for $1,200 this month, if it does as well, will be sold by your great, great grandchildren in 2156 for $360,000. I'm selling my bills for face value if anyone is interested. Item 19 is an invitation to the Independence Anniversary Ball. If you are reading about it here you missed it. It took place on the 79th anniversary of American Independence [Los Angeles: 1855]. You can still get an invitation though it will probably cost you more than the entire affair did then. Estimates $500 to $800. Item 27. Hollywood did not invent entertainment in Los Angeles. In fact Hollywood is the new kid in town. In 1856 the fortunate received this invitation: "You are respectfully requested to attend a Ball, to be given by the Los Angeles Brass Band." Eat your heart out Madonna! Life today in LA may be quiet, even sedentary but it is nice to know it wasn't always that way. It's estimated $350 to $450.
At Auction: Los Angeles Imprints 1843 - 1873 - By Bruce McKinney A sumptuous early LA printed piece. Item 29. So what did a kid do for fun in LA in the 1850s? He left town. The action was at the California State Agricultural Society's Third Annual Fair, Cattle Show and Industrial Exhibition, held at San Jose, October 7th to 10th, 1856. The program, printed in San Francisco, has no typos [as northern Californians will notice]. It's estimated at $700 to $1,000. Item 31 is for the educated rich. To appreciate it you need to read Spanish or at least have someone in the building who can translate it for you. It is "Oraciones para Todos los Dias de la Semana..." a very nice 10-page pamphlet printed in Los Angeles in 1857. It is estimated $3,000 to $5,000. Item 34 looks to be heading for the Charlton Heston crowd. "The honor of your company is respectfully solicited to attend a Ball, to be given by the Southern Rifles...Saturday, July 4," [1857?]. It's estimated at $300 to $400. Item 43. Here is an item that many people do not have: "Laws Concerning Rodeos, and Defining the Duties of Judges of the Plains." This sounds like it was written by Governor Arnold S. but no, it was printed at the office of the Los Angeles Star [1859]. Apparently before there was Arnold there was Arnold. Estimated $1,200 to $1,800. Item 44. [Mojave Indian Uprising]. Extra! Important from the Colorado!! Outbreak of the Mojave Indians! This is an extra of the Los Angeles Star, Saturday, July 30, 1859. It's a two column broadside and may incite another uprising as collectors of Indian material, newspaper broadsides and Los Angeles history meet to decide WHO is serious about their collecting. It's estimated at $1,500 to $2,500. Expect another massacre. If item 44 blew by you quicker than a tsunami perhaps you can console yourself with item 46, a printed billhead made out to Brewer and Ashburn on blue stock: Los Angeles, December 4, 1860. It's early and estimated low: $200 to $300. Item 50 is evidence that Los Angeles took part in the Civil War. Admittedly it was a small part. The city that would fifty years later produce Birth of a Nation seems to have actually slept though the original event. Southern California had many groups that sympathized with the south. This is the by-laws of the Los Angeles Council that supported the Union cause. Buy this item and take it with you to heaven to prove to the grand inquisitor your sentiments were well placed. Estimate $800 to $1,200. Item 58 is the By-Laws of the Los Angeles Chapter, No. 33, of Royal Arch Masons, Held at Los Angeles [and printed in San Francisco by Frank Eastman, 1867]. Freemasons will be watching this item carefully but the battle will be decided by a test of wills between those who favor location of subject versus location of printer. It's estimated at $250 to $350. The tension will be unbearable. Item 60. What is the price of a receipt for $2.50 if it is dated Los Angeles, July 7, 1867. According to the high estimate it will cost you 72 times the amount paid that day and it may prove to be a bargain. It's estimated $120 to $180. It's a bill from the tax office.
At Auction: Los Angeles Imprints 1843 - 1873 - By Bruce McKinney This two column broadside may incite another uprising Lot 64 looks cheap. It is a promotional leaflet encouraging purchase of Stearns' Ranchos land in 1869. Today this brochure will cost you $500 to $800. Back then you could have bought a substantial portion of the land for that money. Be that as it may, the item will probably go for more money, perhaps for enough to have bought the entire development. Should that occur I would refer you to William Bendix who was known to say "What a revolting development this is!" The sale is now entering the final third. We approach lot 66 with hope, and if we have not yet been successful on a single lot, with money still in our pockets. This is a Spanish edition of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Los Angeles [1869]. It is undeniably rare but Spanish language material is often dissed by Anglo collectors who are still looking for the original Columbus letter in English. This item will be purchased either by a sophisticated collector or a library. Estimate $700 to $1,000. For those who do not have enough tax receipts lot 73 is another opportunity to buy someone else's. Against a high estimate of $120 you can buy a tax receipt from the Los Angeles City Marshall's Office for $3.00. You may want to do this as it is dated December 20, 1869. If collecting interest develops for more recent tax bills I predict a huge market on eBay. Lot 74 is a business card for the Lafayette Hotel circa 1869-1876. The hotel offered omnibus pick-up from the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad. Estimate: $150 to $250. While this is a Los Angeles sale the incorrigible minions of San Francisco keep intruding. Get a life why don't you! Lot 77 is a pathetic attempt by the Bay city to muscle in on LA's glory. It is a receipt, published in San Francisco in 1870, for a company that would later move to Los Angeles. Oh please! Specifically it is "Teodoli, Cevasco & Co., Book & Job Printers & Publishers of "La Voce del Popolo." Estimate $100 to $150. So enough all ready. Every lot is posted in the upcoming auctions: 12/2/2005 Sale Or click on Johns' Western Gallery. I just hope you see this story in time. Have fun and act quickly.

At Auction: Los Angeles Imprints 1843 - 1873

- By Bruce McKinney

The earliest LA printing - a handstamp

By Bruce McKinney

An interesting collection of rare Los Angeles imprints and ephemera comes to market on December 2nd in a sale organized by Johns' Western Gallery of San Francisco. The official title is Los Angeles Imprints: 1843 - 1873. This material was accumulated over a lifetime by Glen Dawson of Dawson Books, the firm that recently celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. For fussy collectors of obscuranta this is an opportunity to purchase material that in many cases has been unknown and until now undocumented. Collectors tend to think of books and images when creating a collection but it is the ephemera of an area and period that brings a collection to life. For collectors of Los Angeles, southern California, emerging cities and life in the period, this is an exceptional opportunity to acquire otherwise unobtainable material. The estimates are low.

Item 1 is the earliest known "printing" in Los Angeles. It is an application to the prefect for 200 varas of vacant land in Los Angeles. It is estimated at $2,000 to $3,000. Today well over a million impressions come off Los Angeles presses every twenty-four hours. This is thought to be the first printed impression.

Item 4 is the marriage announcement of Serefino Covarrubias and Isabel Sepulbeda in Los Angeles dated June 5, 1852. It is estimated $300 to $400, a sum certainly larger than the value of gifts received to celebrate the occasion.

Item 13 is an invitation to "Baile de Solteros" and attributed to Los Angeles: 1854. It is estimated $400 to $700. You may have missed the dance but you can still get an invitation.

Item 16. What is the value of a receipt for $15? Because it is a billhead from the Los Angeles firm Butts & Wheeler for job printing and dated November, 1854 it is expected to bring $350 to $450. Keep your receipts! Your Visa bill for $1,200 this month, if it does as well, will be sold by your great, great grandchildren in 2156 for $360,000. I'm selling my bills for face value if anyone is interested.

Item 19 is an invitation to the Independence Anniversary Ball. If you are reading about it here you missed it. It took place on the 79th anniversary of American Independence [Los Angeles: 1855]. You can still get an invitation though it will probably cost you more than the entire affair did then. Estimates $500 to $800.

Item 27. Hollywood did not invent entertainment in Los Angeles. In fact Hollywood is the new kid in town. In 1856 the fortunate received this invitation: "You are respectfully requested to attend a Ball, to be given by the Los Angeles Brass Band." Eat your heart out Madonna! Life today in LA may be quiet, even sedentary but it is nice to know it wasn't always that way. It's estimated $350 to $450.

At Auction: Los Angeles Imprints 1843 - 1873

- By Bruce McKinney

A sumptuous early LA printed piece.

Item 29. So what did a kid do for fun in LA in the 1850s? He left town. The action was at the California State Agricultural Society's Third Annual Fair, Cattle Show and Industrial Exhibition, held at San Jose, October 7th to 10th, 1856. The program, printed in San Francisco, has no typos [as northern Californians will notice]. It's estimated at $700 to $1,000.

Item 31 is for the educated rich. To appreciate it you need to read Spanish or at least have someone in the building who can translate it for you. It is "Oraciones para Todos los Dias de la Semana..." a very nice 10-page pamphlet printed in Los Angeles in 1857. It is estimated $3,000 to $5,000.

Item 34 looks to be heading for the Charlton Heston crowd. "The honor of your company is respectfully solicited to attend a Ball, to be given by the Southern Rifles...Saturday, July 4," [1857?]. It's estimated at $300 to $400.

Item 43. Here is an item that many people do not have: "Laws Concerning Rodeos, and Defining the Duties of Judges of the Plains." This sounds like it was written by Governor Arnold S. but no, it was printed at the office of the Los Angeles Star [1859]. Apparently before there was Arnold there was Arnold. Estimated $1,200 to $1,800.

Item 44. [Mojave Indian Uprising]. Extra! Important from the Colorado!! Outbreak of the Mojave Indians! This is an extra of the Los Angeles Star, Saturday, July 30, 1859. It's a two column broadside and may incite another uprising as collectors of Indian material, newspaper broadsides and Los Angeles history meet to decide WHO is serious about their collecting. It's estimated at $1,500 to $2,500. Expect another massacre.

If item 44 blew by you quicker than a tsunami perhaps you can console yourself with item 46, a printed billhead made out to Brewer and Ashburn on blue stock: Los Angeles, December 4, 1860. It's early and estimated low: $200 to $300.

Item 50 is evidence that Los Angeles took part in the Civil War. Admittedly it was a small part. The city that would fifty years later produce Birth of a Nation seems to have actually slept though the original event. Southern California had many groups that sympathized with the south. This is the by-laws of the Los Angeles Council that supported the Union cause. Buy this item and take it with you to heaven to prove to the grand inquisitor your sentiments were well placed. Estimate $800 to $1,200.

Item 58 is the By-Laws of the Los Angeles Chapter, No. 33, of Royal Arch Masons, Held at Los Angeles [and printed in San Francisco by Frank Eastman, 1867]. Freemasons will be watching this item carefully but the battle will be decided by a test of wills between those who favor location of subject versus location of printer. It's estimated at $250 to $350. The tension will be unbearable.

Item 60. What is the price of a receipt for $2.50 if it is dated Los Angeles, July 7, 1867. According to the high estimate it will cost you 72 times the amount paid that day and it may prove to be a bargain. It's estimated $120 to $180. It's a bill from the tax office.

At Auction: Los Angeles Imprints 1843 - 1873

- By Bruce McKinney

This two column broadside may incite another uprising

Lot 64 looks cheap. It is a promotional leaflet encouraging purchase of Stearns' Ranchos land in 1869. Today this brochure will cost you $500 to $800. Back then you could have bought a substantial portion of the land for that money. Be that as it may, the item will probably go for more money, perhaps for enough to have bought the entire development. Should that occur I would refer you to William Bendix who was known to say "What a revolting development this is!"

The sale is now entering the final third. We approach lot 66 with hope, and if we have not yet been successful on a single lot, with money still in our pockets. This is a Spanish edition of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Los Angeles [1869]. It is undeniably rare but Spanish language material is often dissed by Anglo collectors who are still looking for the original Columbus letter in English. This item will be purchased either by a sophisticated collector or a library. Estimate $700 to $1,000.

For those who do not have enough tax receipts lot 73 is another opportunity to buy someone else's. Against a high estimate of $120 you can buy a tax receipt from the Los Angeles City Marshall's Office for $3.00. You may want to do this as it is dated December 20, 1869. If collecting interest develops for more recent tax bills I predict a huge market on eBay.

Lot 74 is a business card for the Lafayette Hotel circa 1869-1876. The hotel offered omnibus pick-up from the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad. Estimate: $150 to $250.

While this is a Los Angeles sale the incorrigible minions of San Francisco keep intruding. Get a life why don't you! Lot 77 is a pathetic attempt by the Bay city to muscle in on LA's glory. It is a receipt, published in San Francisco in 1870, for a company that would later move to Los Angeles. Oh please! Specifically it is "Teodoli, Cevasco & Co., Book & Job Printers & Publishers of "La Voce del Popolo." Estimate $100 to $150.

So enough all ready. Every lot is posted in the upcoming auctions: 12/2/2005 Sale Or click on Johns' Western Gallery. I just hope you see this story in time. Have fun and act quickly.