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One of the Earliest and Rarest Views of Los Angeles
Glover's rare and magnificent view of Los Angeles, with smaller but still very impressive views of Wilmington and Santa Monica, published by E.S. Glover in Los Angeles and lithographed by A.L. Bancroft of San Francisco
The larger view provides a magnificent early panoramic view of the City of Los Angeles from the area around Dodger Stadium toward the Pacific Ocean, with major street and early buildings shown, the largest of which is the Church on Los Angeles Street, west of Old Town. At the east end of Los Angeles Street, the old circular Plaza can be seen. The Los Angeles River is shown winding its way to the Pacific, with dozen of farms and vineyards around it, along with a number of early bridges and railroad lines.
At the lower left is the recently constructed harbor at Wilmington and San Pedro Bay, the outlet of the Los Angeles River, with the wharf of the Southern Pacific Road and Depot shown. A college is shown in the distance, with Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Mountains beyond, along with the snow capped San Bernardino Mountains.
At the right, the competing wharf at Santa Monica is shown, with the line of the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad and Depot shown. The original Santa Monica town grid is laid out, with a few streets south of the railroads.
This is one of the earliest views of the city of Los Angeles, predated only by:
- 1857 Kuchel & Dresel (a smaller view and a larger view with 20 vignettes)
- 1871 Augustus Koch
- 1873 A.E. Matthews
- 1876 Glover View of East Los Angeles From Brooklyn Heights
Rarity
The view is extremely rare. This is the first example we have seen on the market.
Reps locates copies at the Library of Congress, Bancroft Library and UCLA.
We were unable to locate any other examples offered for sale in published auction and dealer catalog records.
Eli Sheldon Glover (1844-1920) was one of the great viewmakers of the golden age of American bird's eye views. He began his career working for Albert Ruger in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1866. He was primarily a sales agent for Ruger but probably also helped him in the actual production of city views. Two years later Glover went to Chicago to become a printer and publisher under his own name, but his Merchants Lithographing Company was shortlived; it was destroyed by the 1871 Chicago Fire after only three years of operation. The Great Fire caused Glover to look farther afield, and he began making views in Ontario and Kansas. Slowly he made his way west, producing Colorado views in 1873-'74. In 1874, while based in Salt Lake City he traveled the Rocky Mountains and produced views in Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. In 1876 and '77, the Glovers lived in Los Angeles and Eli produced a total of 16 views of California cities. In the last period of his active career, he focused on views in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. His second to last view was in Alabama, and his final view, in 1912 after a long hiatus, was Port Arthur, Texas.
![(Early Hollywood Photography) [Studio of R.A. Whitten]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/97888.jpg)
