San Fernando, Rey de Espana: An Illustrated History Unknown - 2005

From the publisher

The history of California, the missions, architectural restoration, and photography are combined in this new book. It is the perfect combination of text and illustrations, and will make a marvelous addition to your library or be a stunning gift.

A visual cornucopia, the book is replete with more than 450 images from many media, reproduced in full color, duotone, and black and white. The hundreds of images collected by the authors over the course of their research are so numerous and extraordinary that choosing among them was a daunting task.

Photographs of Mission San Fernando from the 1860s to the present chronicle the deterioration of the buildings and their restoration. Photographers such as Henry T. Payne, Stephen A. Rendall, Isaiah W. Taber, William M. Godfrey, Carleton E. Watkins, Francis Parker, George Wharton James, Adam Clark Vroman, and Charles Fletcher Lummis grace the pages of the book.

More than twenty-five years of research illuminate the text and illustrations. Manuscripts and correspondence of the early missionaries; governmental and military documents from Spain and Mexico; Church records of baptisms, marriages, and deaths; journals by adventurers and travelers; newspaper articles; and printed books all have been utilized.

The text recounts the mission's story from the earliest years. Accounts of early Spanish exploration and the founding of the mission give word-pictures of the land as it was between 1769 and 1800. Additional chapters discuss agriculture and commerce, land grants, the mission's ranchos, secularization, its bells, water system, and the mission today. The life and culture of both the priests and the Indians are examined. Controversial historical matters regarding the conquest and colonization of Alta California and the treatment of the indigenous inhabitants receive a balanced approach. The reader is referred to sources on both sides of these issues.

In the wake of secularization, 1835-37, Mission San Fernando gradually fell into dreadful decay and disrepair through human neglect. The text and illustrations tell the story of the public's renewed interest in restoring California's historical treasures at the end of the nineteenth century, spearheaded by the California Landmarks Commission, a task now enhanced by the recently established California Missions Foundation.

The mission's long and arduous restoration is graphically captured in a myriad of photographs, paintings, sketches, lithographs, maps, and architectural drawings.

Three appendixes conclude the work, including a biography of Ferdinand III of Spain, after whom the mission was named; a short biography of second mission president Lasuen; and a list of all the friars and priests resident at the mission. Also included are a glossary, bibliography, and index.

A special limited edition of 100 copies, signed and numbered, bound in bonded leather and slipcased, with special commemorative bronze medallion celebrating the bi-centennial of the mission laid in, also available on a first-order basis.