Los Angeles Public Library
Los Angeles Public Library
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
- Phone: (213) 228-7355
- Email: specialcollections@lapl.org
- Website: http://www.lapl.org/
Special Collections at the Los Angeles Public Library include a wide variety of rare and unique items: archival collections, photographs, maps, rare books, prints, artists' books, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, broadsides, travel posters, restaurant menus, fashion plates, book plates, fruit crate labels, manuscripts and much more. The rare books at Central Library includes over 22,000 monographs, predominantly in English and Spanish, dating from the 15th century, with the majority published in the 18th and 19th centuries. Archival collections include the Brockman Gallery Archive, the Lydia R. Otero Archive, and the Bill Press Collection of materials relating to Black Sparrow Press and Charles Bukowski.
Central Library's History Department began collecting photographs sometime before World War II and had a collection of about 13,000 images by the late 1950s. In 1981, when Los Angeles celebrated its 200th birthday, Security Pacific National Bank gave its noted collection of 250,000 historical photographs to the people of Los Angeles to be archived at the Central Library. Since then, the Central Library has been fortunate to receive other major collections and special archives, making the Library a resource worldwide for visual images.
There are over 200,000 Maps in Central Library's collection, one of the largest in American public libraries. The collection also includes some 2,000 atlases, over 1,000 gazetteers, some 20 serial titles and over one thousand books supporting the study of maps and mapping. The emphasis of this collection is on Los Angeles, Southern California and California but in many cases the scope extends to national and international coverage. The great majority of the chronological scope is post-1900 but there is a representation of 19th century maps in California.
Collections at this institution
Bookplate Collection
Over 1,400 bookplates commissioned by people who wished to identify the books in their personal libraries through a unique work of art. The collection includes a wide variety of graphic and illustrative styles, both color and black and white, ranging from the formal to the whimsical.
Institution: Los Angeles Public Library
1,405 Items
California Revealed from Los Angeles Public Library
California Revealed is a State Library initiative to help California’s public libraries, in partnership with other local heritage groups, digitize, preserve, and provide online access to archival materials - books, newspapers, photographs, audiovisual recordings, and more - that tell the incredible stories of the Golden State. We also provide free access and preservation services for existing digital collections for partner organizations with in-house digitization programs. California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
Institution: Los Angeles Public Library
934 Items
DWP Photo Collection
Not a library collection, this archive is hosted by LAPL for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The majority of these photographs reflect the early history of the Department of Water and Power, such as the establishment of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the work of William Mulholland.
Institution: Los Angeles Public Library
4,297 Items
El Pueblo Monument Photo Collection
Not a library collection, this archive is hosted by LAPL for the El Pueblo Monument. El Pueblo Monument has over ten thousand photographs in its collection, divided into three hundred separate categories.
Institution: Los Angeles Public Library, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument
4,235 Items
Fashion Plate Collection
Over 6,200 hand-colored, finely detailed fashion illustrations produced between 1780 and 1880 for British and American fashion magazines. The plates depict fashionable styles of dress for men, women and children, and constitute valuable source material on the history of dress during this period in history.
Institution: Los Angeles Public Library
6,203 Items
Fruit Crate Label Collection
A collection of vibrantly-colored labels, designed for citrus growers throughout Southern California, mainly during the first half of the twentieth century. Many of the labels illustrate specific locations in the region, and are an excellent example of commercial graphic design from the period, as well as documenting the industry itself.
Institution: Los Angeles Public Library
286 Items
Los Angeles Public Library City Directories
This selection of Los Angeles City and Street Directories spans from 1875-1987.
Institution: Los Angeles Public Library
60 Items
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
The Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection contains images from the 1850s to the present, documenting all aspects of life in Southern California, with an emphasis on Los Angeles.
Institution: Los Angeles Public Library
135,453 Items
Map Collection
The map collection is over one hundred years old, contains more than 225,000 physical items and represents a wide scope, including local, national and international cartography. Selections in this online collection focus on maps depicting Los Angeles and the West. Look for more maps to be digitized and added soon.
Institution: Los Angeles Public Library
37 Items
Menu Collection
A collection of menus representing the culinary history of California and the world since the 19th Century, the Menu Collection extends beyond restaurants to include items from cruise ships, airlines, banquets, social clubs, hotels and resorts.
Institution: Los Angeles Public Library
398 Items
