Library acquires early Yosemite drawing and rare 1855 lithograph

The Library of Congress has acquired one of the earliest known drawings of Yosemite Valley and a rare companion lithograph, both created in 1855 by artist Thomas Almond Ayres, significantly expanding the Library’s representation of one of America’s most iconic landscapes. These foundational images will be made widely available online, for researchers and the public worldwide. The drawing, titled “The High Falls, Valley of the Yo Semity, California,” was created in graphite, ink, chalk and charcoal on paper, and it depicts what is now known as Yosemite Falls, one of America’s natural landscape treasures. Ayres is credited with the visual introduction of Yosemite to Americans who had never seen or imagined such an awe-inspiring site. Measuring 20 x 14 inches, the drawing captures the scale and grandeur of the waterfall and surrounding cliffs, a striking scene in the wilderness valley that Ayres (1816-1858) sketched for several days in June of 1855. Scratched into