The content of this note was taken from "Appraisal of A Collection of Photographs, Promotional Booklets and Postcards of Southern California circa 1875-1950" by Michael Dawson. For a detailed inventory from Dawson's appraisal document, see subseries titled: "[Inventory of photographs from collection appraisal]."

The 92 lots of photographs consisting of 241 individual prints produced by a variety of commercial photographers in Los Angeles during the late 19th and early 20th century including Aerograph, J. B. Blanchard, Ellis & Son, W.H. Fletcher, Garden City Foto Co. and C.B. Waite. Descriptions of these and other photographers can be found in Photographers of Nineteenth Century Los Angeles County by Barbara Dye Callarman (1993) as well as their approximate dates of operation. Many of the photographs are mounted on card stock with the photographer's name and business address. Often the subject or the location is also printed or found in pencil on the verso of the mount. A smaller group is not identified by photographer but can be approximately dated by the medium of the photographs, either albumen or gelatin silver, or by the dress, transportation or other data observed in the image.

Photographs of Los Angeles and Southern California from the late 19th and early 20th century are quite scarce. They are valued by academics and private collectors searching for the visual and cultural history of the region. Consequently, there is a market for these photographs among research institutions and individual collectors.

In order to determine Fair Market Value for Charitable Donation, the relevant market for the subject property was identified. eBay and smaller auction houses such as Cowin's (Cincinnati) and Pacific Book Auction Galleries (PBA) (San Francisco) were reviewed for comparable property. eBay was rejected due to the difficulty of determining if objects offered for sale were copies or authentic. Cowin's and PBA were rejected due to the infrequent offering of comparable property and the difficulty of tracking at auction. The Southern California photographs under review are not listed on any of the art market data bases such as Artnet or Artprice nor are they found on rare book databases such as rarebookhub.com.

While far from common, these photographs are found in the rare book and ephemera market with some regularity. Dealers in photographs of regional history include, Johnson Rare Books and Archives (Covina, CA), McBride Rare Books (New York) and Walkabout Books, (Curtis, WA). Jen Johnson of Johnson Rare Books and Archives and Elizabeth Svendsen of Walkabout Books were contacted regarding the subject property under review. Both noted that 19th and early 20th century photographs of Southern California by commercial photographers are in demand in the rare books and ephemera market. At this moment the demand exceeds the supply for these photographs both in the institutional and private collector market. The prices communicated to me by Johnson and Svendsen conformed with my knowledge in this field. As a rare book dealer and photography specialist with Dawson's Book Shop (Los Angeles) for over 30 years I have handled many photographs comparable to the subject property under review.

Noted collector, Phil Nathanson, was contacted regarding the subject property. Nathanson is a well-known collector of Southern California historical photography and ephemera. He is a member of the Daguerreian Society and the author of several books on 19th century Southern California photographers. Nathanson concurred with Johnson and Svendsen's sales history of Southern California photographs while noting that he often finds photographs comparable to the subject property at regional paper and post cards shows. Nathanson noted that rare book dealers like Johnson and Svendsen frequent these shows to purchase for their inventory. Nathanson considers these regional shows to be primarily a wholesale market.