Book Shelf: The Internet Archive and the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition

You can stroll through the the Panama Pacific Exposition vicariously by perusing these three publications I found on the Internet Archive.

First there's the "Official Guide" filled with everything a visitor would have wanted to know about the Exposition including black and white images of various buildings, a list of paintings for sale in the Fine Arts Building,* maps of the exposition and ending with a list of all the plants on display throughout the grounds.

[The Official Guide Book of the Panama-California Exposition San Diego 1915
The Internet Archive, contributed by The Committee of One Hundred]

Next from the Library of Congress there's an "Official Publication" that is filled with hand-colored photographs of the Exposition.

[Official publication : Panama California International Exposition, San Diego 1916 : hand-colored
The Internet Archive, contributed by the Library of Congress]

The Library of Congress is also the source of "Exposition Memories" that has perhaps too much text devoted to local poets and authors (and not enough pictures of Balboa Park). However I appreciated the photograph of Juanita Miller in costume and the description of the "garland dance" she performed on November 16th, the day of celebration of her father, the poet Joaquin Miller.**

[Exposition memories by James, George Wharton, 1858- [from old catalog]; Tyler, Bertha Bliss. [from old catalog]

*Sadly the prices of the paintings (which included those of Childe Hassam, George Bellows and Maurice Prendergast, among others) was not printed in this guide although a price list was available to visitors upon request.
**A description of her dance is to be found on page 65.


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