Original Photograph of a Family on a Pack Trip in Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite: Best Studio, 1935. The original silver gelatin photograph measures 8 x 5 inches and shows a family of seven, all in the saddle on a trail Contract and tone are very nice. On the front we read "Yosemite 8-4-35 in the plate and the rear is stamped First edition. Octavo. [1-8]9-207, [1] pp. including 18 full page illustrations (one of which is a frontispiece portrait and two are maps of Chinatown). Publisher's red cloth with black spine and cover lettering. Previous owner's presentation on front flu. A very good and clean copy.One of the very few accounts of Los Angeles' Chinatown written by a person of Chinese descent. A fascinating description of the people and especially buildings of Chinatown. the author, a well respected practitioner of Chinese medicine, was also elected chairman of the Koumintang, the Chinese Nationalist political party, and vice-president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. It is an unusually upbeat book and full of details one wouldn't expect to find. We learn that the first Chop Suey restaurant in the New Chinatown (there was an older Chinatown near Sunset and Alameda) was owned and operated by Mr. Chee and that every day there were long lines of waiting patrons; that one out of every 14 Chinese men and women living in Los Angeles have worked in the motion picture industry; that some immigrants who arrived in America at San Francisco immediately headed toward Los Angeles' Chinatown; that the most successful restaurant was named "The Forbidden Palace where ethnicity was not an issue. Basically it is a "Can't we all just get along" book.Best Studio, Yosemite, CA".Harry Best had a small studio in 1904 in which he sold his painting, photographs and other tourist memorabilia. The young Ansel Adams used to frequent the establishment as he enjoyed playing their piano. The Bests had a daughter named Virginia and, after years of Ansel visiting, she and Ansel Adams were married in 1928. Harold (Harry) Best died in October of 1936; a mere 14 months after this shot was taken. While it bears his stamp it beggars belief that Harry himself was out in the field at 72 years of age shooting photographs. Of course we will never know but it is possible that since it was such a small business in 1936 the photograph might have been taken by either Ansel or Virginia Adams.