ABOUT

Michael Dawson is a private dealer and appraiser specializing in rare books and fine art photography including historical photographs of California and the Southwest. Michael has written widely on photography and has owned and operated his own gallery as well as the celebrated Dawson’s Book Shop in Los Angeles – a business established by his grandfather in 1905. He is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), and the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD). Michael is known as an expert in the history of Southern California photography. His writing on the subject is included in LA’s Early Moderns: Art/Architecture/Photography published by Balcony Press in 2003 and Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Los Angeles published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in 2005. Michael contributed an essay for the publication from the Book Club of California titled William Reagh. A Long Walk Downtown: Photographs of Los Angeles & Southern California, 1936-1991.

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To contact Michael Dawson use the Contact page, or send an email to:
michael [at] dawsonbooks.com

Address:
P.O Box 39994
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(213) 910-9139

Ernest Dawson in first book shop, Broadway Street, Los Angeles, circa 1907

ABOUT DAWSON'S BOOK SHOP

Since 1905, Dawson’s Book Shop has been a leading source in Southern California for rare and out of print books in the fields of California history, Western Americana and photography.

Ernest Dawson started the shop in downtown Los Angeles. In 1907 he produced the first catalog of rare books issued in Los Angeles. After three moves downtown and a transfer of ownership to the second generation of Glen and Muir Dawson, the shop settled on Larchmont Boulevard in the Hollywood / Hancock Park area in 1968. After 105 years as a continually operating book shop, Dawson’s closed the Larchmont location in 2010. Michael Dawson continues to buy and sell rare books and photographs from his home in the Echo Park neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Ernest DawsonLeft: Ernest Dawson book plate showing his children, circa 1924. Right: Portrait of Ernest Dawson, 1924.
Left: Ernest Dawson book plate showing his children, circa 1924. Right: Portrait of Ernest Dawson, 1924.
Ernest Dawson and staff, Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, celebrating 40th anniversary in business, 1940
Ernest Dawson and staff, Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, celebrating 40th anniversary in business, 1940.
Opening of Dawson’s Book Shop on Larchmont Blvd in Los Angeles, 1968.
Opening of Dawson’s Book Shop on Larchmont Blvd in Los Angeles, 1968.