California Mission Sketches by Henry Miller, 1856

Processed by Padma Rubiales and The Bancroft Library staff.

The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California, 94720-6000

1996

California Mission Sketches by Henry Miller, 1856

Collection number: BANC PIC 1905.00006--B

The Bancroft Library

University of California

Berkeley, California 1996

Finding aid and digital representations of archival materials funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Processed and encoded by:

California Heritage Digital Image Access Project staff in The Bancroft Library and The Library's Electronic Text Unit

Digital images processed by:

The Library Photographic Service

Finding aid completed:

September 1995

Collection Summary

Collection Title: California Mission Sketches by Henry Miller,

Date: 1856

Collection Number: BANC PIC 1905.00006--B

Extent: 38 pencil sketches, 28 x 45 cm. 38 digital objects

Artist: Miller, Henry

Repository: The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.

Berkeley, California 94720-6000

Languages Represented: English

Information for Researchers

Access

Originals not available for use. Use viewing prints with call no. BANC PIC 1905.00006--PIC.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], California Mission Sketches by Henry Miller, BANC PIC 1905.00006--B, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Digital Representations Available

Digital representations of original pictorial materials are available in the list of materials below. Digital image files were prepared from selected Library originals by the Library Photographic Service. Library originals were copied onto 35mm color transparency film; the film was scanned and transferred to Kodak Photo CD (by Custom Process); and the Photo CD files were color-corrected and saved in JFIF (JPEG) format for use as viewing files.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Unknown.

Scope and Content

This collection of 38 pencil sketches of the California Missions are the earliest known attempt to depict the Missions in a series (1856). The artist Henry Miller was identified in Pioneer Notes from the Diaries of Judge Benjamin Hayes, 1929, pages 132-133. *

Henry Miller originally planned to sketch the principal towns and scenery of the eastern counties of Alta California, in order to publish his observations and illustrations. He deemed himself too illiterate to accomplish this, and decided instead to prepare for a panorama that would "embrace all that is remarkable and peculiar in this state."* He traveled through the southern counties, braving bandits, wild animals, and high fares for travel through mining districts. He slept in fields, and survived with little funds; earning extra money by selling sketches along the way. He traveled along "the main road leading from Mission to Mission,"* from San Francisco to San Diego. He started his journey from San Francisco on February 5, 1857, and left Los Angeles on October 13, 1857 to return to San Francisco aboard the steamship Seabird.

Note

* Account of a Tour of the California Missions, 1856; the Journal & Drawings of Henry Miller. San Francisco, Book Club of California, 1952.

Container List

:1 Folsom