The Arts
Little Bower Fashion Plate Collection, 1798-1917, 1967, 2003 (2 linear inches, 46 plates). A fashion plate collection assembled by Charlotte Northrup Little, preserved by her daughter, Charlotte Little Bower and donated by her granddaughter, Cynthia Bower Smith. View the fashion plates online in our Fashion Plate digizited collection.
Nineteenth-Century Fashion Plate Collection, 1836-1876 (2 linear inches, 61 plates). Engraved, hand-colored plates depicting Empire, Romantic and Edwardian styles from popular European women’s magazines of the time. The collection can be view online in our Fashion Plate digitized collection.
Charles Surendorf Prints, undated (17 prints). Black and white etched prints of the gold country in California, mostly of Columbia, California.
Artifacts
Aztec Calendar Stone . A reproduction of one of the most famous manifestations of Aztec knowledge of astronomy and mathematics and also an example of pre-Columbian Mexican art.
History of Printing
History of Writing Collection (19 items). Full-size reproduction of the Rosetta Stone, two original 15th Century Latin manuscripts, reproductions of a wax tablet and stylus and fifteen facsimiles of Sumerian, Egyptian, Hebrew and Latin documents and manuscripts.
Henry Evans Collection, 1957, 1974, 1979-1988 (2.5 linear inches). Catalogs of Henry Evans prints, articles about Evans and his work, and one booklet of his poetry. A separate collection of his actual prints has been cataloged and is shelved in the Fine Arts Collection.
Early newspapers, 1791-1894. Single issues of various newspapers.
Examples of fine printing
Handmade paper
Kherdian and Hogrogian Papers, 1968-1983 (3 linear inches and 3 woodcuts). Materials about David Kherdian’s work as an author and editor. Also includes examples of the children’s book illustrations of Kherdian’s wife, Nonny Hogrogian, as well as a master’s thesis about her.
Roger K. Larson Papers, 1988, 1994-1997 (7 linear inches). Pacific Book Auction catalogs describing in great detail Larson’s Californiana and Western Americana collection before it was sold. Also includes two essays Larson wrote for the Book Club of California.
Manuscript leaves, 1495-1760 (45 leaves). Single leaves from early printed works. Oversize leaves shelved in map case.
William Morris-Kelmscott Press Collection, 1976-1996 (1 linear inch). Fine press items relating to William Morris.
The Rather Press Collection, 1968-1996 (1 linear foot). A complete collection of all the works produced by this private press in Oakland, California. Includes note cards, calendars, pamphlets, book announcments, two manuscripts, and three miniature books. A comprehensive bibliography is available. The books printed by this press have been cataloged for the Colver Collection.
Reproductions of early printing
Roxburghe and Zamorano Clubs, 1956, 1970, 1972, 1988 (bulk 1972, 1 linear inch). Mostly keepsakes on various bibliographic topics printed on the occasion of joint meetings of the Roxburghe and Zamorano Clubs of San Francisco.
Topolobampo
Records of the Credit Foncier of Sinaloa Company and its failed utopian colony at Topolobampo Bay in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico in the late nineteenth century. Also includes the business records and personal papers of Albert Kimsey Owen (1847-1916), the colony’s founder.
There are more than 500 photographs taken at Topolobampo by the colony’s official photographer, Ira Kneeland. They can be viewed online in our Topolobampo digitized collection.
War
Central California War Veterans Oral History Collection Transcripts and audio interviews of Central Valley veterans from conflicts dating from World War II to the present day. Oral histories are conducted by Fresno State journalism students.
Peace and War Collection, 1870-1967 (8 linear feet). Pamphlets relating to World Wars I and II, from all countries involved.
War Propaganda Collection, 1861-1991 (6.75 linear feet, 48 frames). Framed propaganda and artifacts from wars in which the United States was involved.
Miscellaneous
Sanford Aday Collection, 1952-1965 (1 linear foot). Mostly pulp fiction paperback novels published by Aday in Fresno. Also included is information about the obscenity charges Aday faced and his fight against censorship in the U.S. court system.
Emanuel Julius-Halderman, 1920-1950 (2 linear feet). Books published by the socialist writer and thinker.
Kloain Armenian Genocide Collection, 1889-2003 and undated (7 linear feet). Contains materials gathered by Richard Kloain about the Armenian genocide for his own writing and the organization he founded, the Armenian Genocide Resource Center. Kloain founded the Armenian Genocide Resource Center to study and raise awareness of the Armenian genocide.
Mexican American Political Association Collection, 1985-2003 (1 linear foot). Subject files, court documents and clippings from the organization.
Miscellaneous Manuscripts. Mostly single items (e.g. letters, deeds, mining claims) on various topics from different time periods, described individually on separate list.
National Organization for Women (NOW) Collection. Small collection of materials by and about the feminist organization.
Popish Plot Collection (5 linear inches, 94 items). Original pamphlets and broadsides relating to the anti-Catholic Popish plot in England, 1679 to 1680.
Title IX Collection. Small collection about the legislation preventing descrimination in federally funded educational institutions.
Bill Secrest’s White Eye Anderson Project, 1971-1972, 1980 and undated (7 linear inches). Typed manuscript of the memoirs of White Eye Anderson, a pioneer in the Wild West, edited by Bill Secrest. Also includes the final, published edition as well as extensive correspondence relating to Secrest’s research.