THE LAND OF SUNSHINE FRUIT AND FLOWERS [1898 Southern California View Book]

Small quarto (9 1/4 by 6 1/8 inches) Columbus, Ohio: Ward Brothers, 1898. Original Edition. twelve plates folded leporello style containing upwards of 70 images, plus seven pages of text describing the natural, historical, and cultural qualities of Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Bernardino. Bound in red moire cloth, with minimal wear to edges. Very good condition.

An illustrated, souvenir, hardcover, promotional booklet published by Ward Bros., Columbus, Ohio. in 1898.

The illustrations, taken from photographs, are on a strip folded accordion style, with the first leaf attached to the front cover. The seven unnumbered pages of text are attached to the back pastedown.

The views and vignettes include Downtown Los Angeles, the business district, a "Birdseye View of San Bernardino," the harbor, the "Ostrich Farm," "Hotel and Beach at Redondo," "Orange Grove & Vineyard Tracts, San Gabriel Valley," "Mount Lowe," "Catalina," "Hotel Del Coronado," and the "Long Wharf at Santa Monica," among many others.

"The territory known as Southern California is commonly referred to as the region lying south of the Tehachapi mountains at the point where California's two great mountain ranges unite." "The climate is the same as that of the City of Mexico, slightly milder in winter than that of Rome, but not so hot in summer."

"The charming city of Pasadena is built upon a mesa or gentle slope of table land 850 feet above sea level, 25 miles from the Pacific coast, which it overlooks on the west and south . . . . "