Video: Those maps found in a Mt. Washington cottage

Glen Creason in screen grab.

OK, this is not strictly a read — it's a video to watch. But it comes from the Los Angeles Review of Books, and it's about printed material, and anyway that's the name of my category for awesome works I want to share with you all. This video is a follow to the great story from 2012 in which Glen Creason, the rightfully celebrated maps librarian in the history department at LAPL's Central Library, goes to the home of a late recluse in Mount Washington and discovers a treasury of mint condition Los Angeles street guides and other old maps. The video was made by LA-based filmmaker Alec Ernest. From the LA Review of Books post:

"Living History: The John Feathers Map Collection" is the the story of an extraordinary hidden treasure and a glimpse into the reclusive soul that protected it for years.

The story begins with Glen Creason, Map Librarian at Los Angeles Central Library and author of Los Angeles in Maps, who recounts his experience in October 2012 when a real estate agent rang him about a soon-to-be-demolished house in Mt. Washington that was "full of maps". Thinking he'd find a box of National Geographics at best, Creason reluctantly set out for the house. But once he arrived he discovered so many precious maps that he had to return with a truck and an army of volunteers to cart them away.

An unknown collector named John Feathers had recently passed away at the house without bequeathing the maps, which included rare and well-preserved first editions of Renie guides, Gillespie guides, and Thomas Brothers guides. Creason's boss told him to take everything, and so the library came upon the biggest coup in its history, doubling its map collection in a single day. Three years later and the maps are still being sorted…

Watch the video:

Previously on LA Observed:
Trove of old maps discovered on Mount Washington
First look at maps from Mount Washington cabin\
In praise of the Sanborn atlas
New LA book of the week: LA in maps