Oblong Octavo album ca. 18,4x25,6 cm (7 ¼ x 10 in). 50 card stock leaves (1 blank). With ca. 356 original gelatin silver photographs (including six loose), from ca. 9,4x15 cm (3 ¾ x 6 in) to ca. 4,4x 4 cm (1 ¾ x 1 ½ in). Most photos captioned (in English) in negatives, some dated. Period full-cloth album with a generic title “Photographs” on the front cover. About five pages loose, two photos missing, several leaves with tears of the edges, but otherwise a very good album with strong, interesting photos.

Historically interesting collection of 356 well-executed photographs of California, most likely deriving from the family of San Diego’s pioneer farmers and illustrating rural life of early ranchers in the surrounding areas of Escondido, San Pasqual Valley, Julian, and Ramona. As follows from the photos, the compiler was a young woman whose family was employed at or collaborating with the Linton Ranch in North San Diego County. The Ranch was locally famous as a pioneering livestock and homesteading hub where its managers oversaw tens of thousands of head of sheep, horses, and cattle across the regional valleys.

The album mostly features private vernacular photos of the compiler, her relatives, and friends next to their properties (houses, farms, ranches, fields, etc.), amidst livestock (horses, pigs, jacks, cows, chickens, etc.), and engaged in various agricultural activities (pitching hay, casting a bovine, handling mules, harnessing animals, etc.) Several photos show the compiler and her friends during leisure time hiking, posing for photos, etc.

About fifteen rare amateur photos show the newly-commissioned North Island Naval Air Station during or shortly after the end of WWI. The compiler apparently took the photos while visiting her friends in naval service. The images show aerial views of the North Island, Battle ship Oregon, sea planes, and group portraits of UN Navy Sailors.

The California series also includes photos of an Escondido dam (Lake Wohlford Dam), “basketball game at Ramona,” Balboa Stadium, and the Bishop’s School in San Diego.

Especially interesting are about five lively vernacular photographs of China, apparently taken and collected during the overseas voyage by one of the compiler’s close relatives “John”. The images show busy street scenes with clearly visible shop signs, locals in traditional kimonos and yukatas, and rickshaws pulled on foot by a driver. There’s also an interesting photographs showing a funeral of what appears to be a local prominent person.

The other photos from the album mostly show the compiler and her companions in Atlantic City and Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Overall, historically interesting album with 356 well-executed photographs of California, most likely deriving from the family of San Diego’s pioneer farmers and illustrating rural life of early ranchers in the surrounding areas of Escondido, San Pasqual Valley, Julian, and Ramona.