Down to the Bay - From Stevenson's House

Joseph Pennell

The fourteenth of nineteen etchings Pennell did of San Francisco in 1912. While on his way back from the Panama Canal he stopped in San Francisco to work out the details of the planning for the proposed Panama Pacific International Exposition, scheduled for 1915. Pennell was Chairman of the Group Jury for Etchings and Engravings.

"From Stevenson's House" is a view down Hyde Street in San Francisco. In the distance is San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz, which at that time was a military prison. Writer Robert Louis Stevenson's widow lived in a mansion designed for her by architect Willis Polk at the top of Russian Hill. It overlooked both Alcatraz and later, of course, Treasure Island.

At the bay, Hyde Street is now the terminus for the cable car line. The tracks for the cars can be seen in this etching, running down the street. A pencil annotation in the bottom margin, in Pennell's hand, reads "Down to the Bay - from Stevenson's House." These San Francisco etchings are quite rare.