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Collection Lawrence & Houseworth Collection

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In the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

In addition to items acquired as part of the Lawrence & Houseworth Collection (LOT 3544), the Prints and Photographs Division holds items published by the firm acquired from other sources. These items are listed below.

  • Thomas Houseworth. Portrait of Jean Francois Gravelet Blondin, albumen silver print, October 10, 1876. Source unknown.
    Call number: BIOG FILE - Blondin, Jean Francois Gravelet, 1824-1897
    Reproduction number: LC-USZ62-103984
    Note: Gravelet, known as Blondin, was the first tightrope walker to cross Niagara Falls.
  • Lawrence & Houseworth. 31. Old Spanish "Mission San José," Alameda County, albumen silver stereograph, 1866. Marian S. Carson Collection
    Call number: LOT 13245, no. 1
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133177
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 504. Powell Street from the Lincoln House; San Francisco, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
    Call number: LOT 13245, no. 2
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133373
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 605. Group of Piute Indians, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
    Call number: LOT 13245, no. 3
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133372
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 645. "Nick of the Woods"–a Human Face in a Cedar Tree–Valley of Lake Tahoe (near view), albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 1
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133172
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 875. The Sentinels; 315 feet high, 23 feet diameter; Mammoth Grove, Calaveras County , albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 2
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133175
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 880. House over the Stump of the Original Big Tree, diameter 32 feet; Mammoth Grove, Calaveras County, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870. Marian S. Carson Collection
    Call number: LOT 13245, no. 4
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133152
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 880. House over the Stump of the Original Big Tree, diameter 32 feet; Mammoth Grove, Calavaras County, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 3
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133174
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 899. The Keystone State–Big Tree Grove, Calavaras County, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 4
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133171
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 907. Abraham Lincoln, near view; 281 feet high, 44 feet circumference. Big Tree Grove, Calaveras Co., albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870. Marian S. Carson Collection
    Call number: LOT 13245, no. 5
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133170
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 922. "Eagle Wing," albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 5
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133173
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1151. The Devil’s Office, Sonoma County, Cal., albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 6
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133155
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1198. Point Arena Lighthouse, Mendocino County, California, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870. Orlando M. Poe Collection
    Call number: LOT 13468

  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1409. Broadway from the Railroad Station, looking North, Oakland, Alameda County, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 7
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133169
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1519. Looking up Alameda Cañon, from the Bridge, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 8
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133178
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1640. Nevada Fall, 700 feet high and Cap of Liberty, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1872.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 9
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133176
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1665. Clouds’ Rest, 6,450 feet high, from near the top of South Dome, looking east, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870. Marian S. Carson Collection
    Call number: LOT 13245, no. 6
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133150
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1745. Looking up the Grizzly Giant, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 10
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133153
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1796. Mount St. Helena, from Mount Lincoln, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 11
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133148
  • Thomas Houseworth & Co. 1798. Mansion House and Swimming Bath, albumen silver stereograph, published circa 1870.
    Call number: LOT 13235, no. 12
    Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-133149
  • Lawrence & Houseworth published the images of numerous photographers. A list of photographers known to have worked for Lawrence & Houseworth, is available; the list includes notes about any Prints and Photographs Division's holdings by the photographer outside of the Lawrence & Houseworth Collection.

Related Collections Outside the Library of Congress

(NOTE: The Library of Congress does not maintain these Internet sites. Users should direct concerns about these links to their respective site administrators or webmasters.)

  • Bancroft Library
    University of California
    Berkeley, CA
    http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ External

    The collection contains more than 200 stereo views published by Lawrence & Houseworth, as well as cabinet card portraits by Thomas Houseworth.

  • The New York Public Library
    New York, NY
    http://www.nypl.org/ External

    The New York Public Library’s collection includes many stereos published by Lawrence & Houseworth. They also own a set of Charles Weed’s mammoth plate photographs of Yosemite which were published by Lawrence & Houseworth.

  • The National Maritime Museum
    San Francisco, CA
    http://www.nps.gov/safr/index.htm External

    The Maritime Museum has a small collection of original glass plate stereo negatives published by Lawrence & Houseworth in the mid-1860s.

  • The Society of California Pioneers
    San Francisco, CA
    http://www.californiapioneers.org/ External

    The Society’s collection includes a unique three volume set of approximately 1500 views published by the San Francisco firm of Lawrence & Houseworth/Thomas Houseworth & Co. circa 1860-70. The half-stereographs in these albums may have been used as a salesman’s catalog. The photographs document California and Nevada towns, industries, and landscape.

Selected Bibliography

  • Palmquist, Peter. Lawrence & Houseworth/Thomas Houseworth & Co.: A Unique View of the West 1860-1886, Columbus: National Stereoscopic Association, 1980.
    Call number: HD9707.5 .S734T47 1980 [P&P]

    This book provides the most complete information available on Lawrence & Houseworth. It contains many illustrations, including examples of the firm's work over time, advertisements, and exterior views of their studio. Includes a comprehensive list of stereoviews, cabinet cards of celebrities, and mammoth plate views of Yosemite and the Big Trees published by Lawrence & Houseworth.

  • Points of Interest: California Views 1860-1870: The Lawrence and Houseworth Albums, [Berkeley, CA]: Berkeley Hills Books; San Francisco: The Society of California Pioneers, 2002.
    Call number: F867.5 .P65 2002 [P&P]

    Illustrated with 181 reproductions of photographs from a set of three rare albums in the collection of The Society of California Pioneers. (The book accompanied an exhibition of the same title held at the Society in 2002.) Preeminent photographic historian Peter Palmquist's essay provides biographical information about Lawrence & Houseworth, as well as a brief history of the stereograph format, and discusses a few of the major stereograph photographers who worked in California.