Rare and interesting album with scenes of Los Angeles completed by the photographer F.H. Maude. Some titles include:

149. County Court House, LA; 401. LA, North from Court House; 150. City Hall, LA; 145. Spring St. Looking SW; 627. Spring & Second St.; 377. Broadway 375. Broadway; 632. US Government Building; 151. Main St North from Post Office; 630. Hotel Van Nuys; 635. Hotel Westminster; Residence of JD Stimson; 598.5. Oil Wells, LA; 301 La Grande Station; 155. SPRR Arcade Depot, LA; 640. LA Mission Church; 629. State Normal School; 598. Oil Fields; 429. Looking down Broadway from LA Co. Court House; SW View Casa de Rosas.

A stamped dedication on the inside cover tells us the album was “presented to Col. Albert Deleur by the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association of Los Angeles on his departure to Europe.” According to newspaper accounts of the time, Deleur was a rather colorful Los Angelino. A 1903 obituary, written after his body was found washed up on the sand dunes of Long Beach (an apparent suicide), describes him as a “well-known character” who was both a promoter of land deals a political orator. He also apparently spoke several languages fluently and claimed “to have been regularly inducted into the secrets of Brahminism in India, and was one of the few Europeans who have had the experience.” The article also that, “where his means came from was a mystery” and he “would disappear mysteriously from the city to make a trip to Europe for the purpose of floating local enterprises. He would be gone several weeks and when he returned the object of his visits was not always discussed.” Why the Merchant and Manufacturers’ Association gifted Deleur a photo album of Los Angeles prior to one of his mysterious voyages abroad is itself a mystery as well.