FOUNTAINS

Stairways, fountains, and streetlights are among the many over-looked small things that grace our cityscapes. Seeing and appreciating them is the idea behind the Urban Details series. Many have significant histories and are associated with important civic leaders, and many are merely the result of some functional requirement, but nearly all are the product of the loving hand labor of talented artisans.

Discover where Laurel and Hardy pushed a grand piano up a long stairway. Imagine corseted ladies negotiating hundreds of narrow steps heading to the streetcar in high heels carrying shopping bags. How about a fountain dedicated to Rudolph Valentino commissioned after his death by a group of loving fans? Learn about the "5-Globe Lewellyn" and other historic streetlights still decorating once-elegant boulevards.

These three compact books are designed as small photo albums with handwritten captions conveying the sense of personal discovery the author felt while pursuing her research. Urban Details will inspire readers to rediscover their cities.

Virginia Comer is widely published on the subject of Los Angeles history. Her books include Angels Flight: A History of Bunker Hill's Incline Railway, El Alisal, and Los Angeles: A View from Crown Hill, which won the Southern California Local History Award.