A first edition copy of Sun Pictures of Yosemite Valley (1884) is valued at $50,000-80,000 ahead of a sale at PBA Galleries in San Francisco.

The exceptionally rare work compiles 44 photographs of the national park by Charles Weed and Eadweard James Muybridge.

Muybridge established his career with his photographs of the Yosemite Valley

Only a handful exist, the majority of which are held in museum collections.

Muybridge is best known for his groundbreaking studies of motion and the invention of the zoopraxiscope, a precursor to the development of cinematography.

Prior to this, he built his reputation in the American West. His large format photographs of the Yosemite Valley (taken in 1867) proved an enormous hit with the public.

Glacier Point from the Foot of the Upper Yosemite Falls (1875), a unique print by photographer Carleton E Watkins (1829-1916) is valued at $30,000-50,000.

Watkins' images were key to convincing the US government to designate the region a national park in 1864.  

However, a series of poor financial decisions left him and his family destitute and living in a boxcar. Then his San Francisco studio was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.

He was admitted to an asylum soon after.

We have a fascinating selection of books and manuscripts available.

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