The Most Celebrated Work by California's Pioneer African American Lithographer
Wonderful Lithograph Views of the Residences, Ranches, Commercial and Government buildings of San Mateo County
This rare California viewbook contains a superb suite of lithographs illustrating the residences, ranches, commercial buildings, scenery, etc. of San Mateo County. Most of the lithographic work for this impressive production was executed by Grafton Tyler Brown, a prolific 19th century African American lithographer who worked primarily in the San Francisco area. Forty-one of the lithograph views are signed G. T. Brown & Co., including the elaborately illustrated title-page which shows Pigeon Point Light House, Alcove Rocks and Patriarch - a famous redwood tree. The fine detailed double-sheet lithograph map and several other plates are by Britton & Rey.
Grafton T. Brown was one of California's earliest African-American artists and this is his most celebrated lithography project.
Elaborate histories of California counties came into their own in the latter half of the 19th-century as erstwhile pioneers matured into prosperous residents who set down roots. Ambitious publishers cavassed wealthy homeowners to subscribe to these expensive illustrated productions, with the lure of including stylized views of their homes, ranches and businesses (always surrounded with flawless fencing and often with fine livestock).
In 1878, publishers Elliott S. Moore and James De Pue saw opportunity in San Mateo County... Brown divided production of sixty-four views with Britton & Rey, and the larger firm produced... twenty-two views along the Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way, including fourteen in the county seat. While Britton & Rey canvassed the more prestigious areas, Brown sketched forty-one farms, residences, and businesses. Of fourteen views that filled two pages, Brown did eleven. Each lithographer used distinctive corner ornaments. Furthermore, Britton & Rey did the county map, while Brown provided the illustrated title page as his forty-second view.
Brown's views illustrate his more sophisticated sense of contour and color of mountains, as well as the interplay of sky, cloud, and shadow, while Britton & Rey emphasized foreground people, horses, and houses and their shadows. Brown's shading of hills and clouds adds more depth than is normally found in scenes where the artist's view was expected only to inventory the property of the paying customer.
After seven months of production, Moore and DePue praised the "skill and artistic finish" of the plates included in their Illustrated History of San Mateo County, and through the Redwood City newspaper on November 30, 1878, declared that "we are now delivering [them] to our subscribers." For those with second thoughts, the publishers offered, "a limited number can be purchased of our delivering agents while on their route. Price ten dollars." Today, this county history is in great demand. - Robert J. Chander, San Francisco Lithographer: African American Artist Grafton Tyler Brown (2014), pages 146-148.
A selection of the outstanding lithographic views, including all 15 of the double-page views, here follows:
Grand Hotel, Redwood City, John Crowley, Prop.
Front View of Residence of Jacob Downing, San Gregorio.
"Hazlewood Farm" Property of S. L. Jones, near Woodside, San Mateo Co. Cal. This Ranche contains about 1,500 acres.
Kreis's Pioneer Brewery, Redwood City.
American House, Redwood City, W. S. Low, Proprietor.
Residence of Wm. Metzgar, Esq. Spanishtown Half Moon Bay.
San Mateo Publishing Company, Redwood City.
"Mountain Home Ranch" Property of E. W. Burr, Searsville. Double-page view.
Residence of James W. Bell, San Gregorio. Double-page view.
St. Matthews Hall, Church & Rectory, San Mateo, California, Rev. A. L. Brewer, Rector. Double-page view.
"Ravenswood Rancho" Residence of L. P. Cooley, Menlo Park. Double-page view.
Town of Purissima, Residence, Ranch & Property of Henry Dobbel, Esq. Double-page view.
Residence, Ranch & Dairy of V. Guerrero, Halfmoon Bay. Double-page view.
Gordon's Chute / Ranch of A. Gordon, San Gregorio. Double-page view.
Hanson, Ackerson & Co. Lumber Dealers. Double-page view.
Residence of J. B. Harsha, San Gregorio / Fairview Church. Double-page view.
Menlo Park Hotel, Menlo Park, M. Kuck, Proprietor. Double-page view.
"Willow Glen Rancho" Residence of T. W. Moore, Pescadero. Double-page view.
Town of Pescadero. Bird's-eye view. Swanton's Livery Stable, Pescadero House, Marstons, Garretson, and fenced land of B. Weeks, and home of O. Brown with 1000 acres. Double-page view.
Ocean View Looking South West from the Residence of S. P. Pharis, Pharis District, San Mateo Co., Cal. / Pioneer Mill Purissima Creek / Redwood Mineral Spring and Creek. With insets of Residence of S. P. Pharis and Mountain Park. Double-page view.
Cascade Cheese Factory and Residence of R. E. Steele, Pescadero. Double-page view.
Residence of J. H. Sears, La Honda / La Honda, Property of Sears & Sears. 15 Miles from Redwood on stage road, summer resort for tourists. Good hotel, fine drives, fishing and hunting. Double-page view.
Rarity
While we can locate a dozen copies in institutional confines, this book is quite rare in the market, with only three copies selling at auction in the last twenty years per RBH -- and notably all three were lacking at least one plate.
Rocq locates copies at California State Library, California Historical Society, the Bancroft, Redwood City Public Library, San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo County Library, Wells Fargo Bank Library, and State Historical Society of Wisconsin. And we can add: Stanford University, Los Angeles Public, Society of California Pioneers, and Harvard.
Grafton Tyler Brown, perhaps the first African American artist to depict California and the Pacific Coast, was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1841. Before he was twenty, Brown moved to San Francisco and learned the art of lithography from C. C. Kuchel. In 1861 and again in 1864, Brown created the two earliest bird's eye views of Virginia City. At the age of twenty-six, he established his own firm, G.T. Brown & Co.
At San Francisco, and elsewhere in California, Brown produced skillfully illustrated bank notes, labels, and maps, and stock certificates for Wells Fargo, Levi Strauss and Co., and several mining companies. His significant lithographic production, The Illustrated History of San Mateo County (1878), featured seventy-two views of the county's communities and ranches. Brown traveled throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, and British Columbia (where he settled in 1882), producing maps and illustrations, including many landscape paintings.
In 1893, Brown secured employment as a draftsman at the St. Paul, Minnesota office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Sometime during his St. Paul years he married Elberta Brown. Brown's work with the Corps of Engineers ended in December 1897, after which he worked in the civil engineering department of the city of St. Paul until 1910. He died on March 3, 1918, in Nicollet County, Minnesota, bringing to a close a rich and varied career as an artist and illustrator of the American West.