A mixed-media graphite-and-white-heightened drawing by Edward Vischer, the Bavarian-born artist, traveler, and documentarian whose work forms one of the foundational visual records of early California. This drawing, inscribed along the lower margin, “Moonlight Scene in Marin County (Near Bolinas) original sketch & friendly dedication to Miss McHenry from the author,” reflects the intimate field studies that informed the lithographs and albumen-mounted portfolios for which Vischer is best known. Signed lower right: Vischer. Vischer emigrated from Bavaria to Mexico at age nineteen, working throughout the Pacific region where he encountered artists such as Mauritius Rugendas and Jean Jacques Vioget—figures who inspired him to begin sketching. After settling in San Francisco in 1849, Vischer prospered as a commission merchant and property owner before devoting himself, beginning in 1861, to an unpaid personal project: the pictorial documentation of Spanish and Mexican California, which he feared was rapidly vanishing under American statehood. His field sketches became the basis for his major published portfolios, including Pictorial California Landscape (1870) and The Missions of Upper California (1872), many of which were issued in subscription albums containing photographic reproductions pasted from his original watercolors and pencil drawings. Original works by Vischer are rarely encountered on the market; few were widely dispersed, and most surviving examples reside in institutional collections. Institutional Note: Original Vischer drawings are preserved in major repositories—including the Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley), the Huntington Library, the California Historical Society, the Autry Museum of the American West, and the Society of California Pioneers—underscoring the scarcity of examples remaining in private hands. Dimensions: sight 4 × 7 in.; framed 9 1/2 × 12 1/4 in. Provenance: Al and Carol Cali Collection. Pickup & Shipping: Free pickup in Sacramento. Shipping via FedEx within the continental U.S. for $65 + 1.5% insurance (unless waived in writing). Combined lot shipping available. Very good overall; minor toning, small scattered surface specks, and light mounting rippling; not examined out of frame.