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Description

Original Albumen Photograph of the Hotel del Coronado 

A scarce 19th century photograph issued quite soon after the 1888 opening of the Hotel del Coronado. The beachfront hotel, located in Coronado, California, across the bay from San Diego, was the largest such resort in the world when it opened. It remains a rare extant example of the wooden Victorian resort hotel genre.

The present photograph, which shows the main hotel building, is signed in the negative by Henry Ellis Coonley (1865-1942), who was active in San Diego and specialized in such views of San Diego. A photo dealer's name is stamped in purple ink on the mount: "W. G. Walz Company / B. Burnell, Manager, San Diego." The verso of the mount has an additional stamp: "From the San Diego Curiosity Store / S. E. Cor. 5th & F Sts."

Burnell & Walz appear as operators of a Mexican art and curio store in advertisements in the San Diego Sud California Deutsche Zeitung from 1888 to 1890.

Condition Description
Original boudoir card format albumen photograph on card mount measuring 5 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches. Slight soiling (mainly to card mount). Overall a very nice image. Signed in the negative: Coonley, Photo.